![]() ![]() ![]() There is, at the center of the work, Eco’s erudite essay, examining the widely varying concepts of ugliness down through the ages and referencing the insights of poets, philosophers, theologians, novelists and a vast array of other writers. Ugliness sure can be perplexing, as Eco, the well-respected Italian intellectual, makes clear in this wonderfully provocative three-level book. Even if repulsed by the guy’s ugliness, the viewer is still drawn irresistibly into the picture. We would read it that way if he were a studly courtier, wouldn’t we?Īnd here’s the thing: Ill-Matched Lovers is a much more interesting painting, more striking, more arresting, because of his ugliness. His look, his smile, could just as well be read as deep affection and delight. Yet, I think the temptation to call it a leer is due to his ugliness. He fondles her right breast under her bodice and gazes at her with what might be called a leer. She looks lovingly at him through lidded eyes and caresses his stubbled chin. ![]() No question, the guy on the cover of Umberto Eco’s 2007 book On Ugliness is truly ugly.Īnd, in this sixteenth-century painting by Quentin Matsys, Ill-Matched Lovers, his ugliness is heightened by his pretty wife or girlfriend. ![]()
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