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Abstract

She was the most beautiful.”“That’s impossible.”“My point exactly”I remember the above conversation as I was on my way back from the museum. What would you answer? Can you imagine her beauty? Again, to me it's unimaginable. However I imagine her, I know for a fact she must be even more beautiful. It makes perfect sense to me that her beauty is hardly described by Homer or any other wordsmith out there.At an exhibition in 2013 I couldn't help but stare at a painting of Helen. Instead of depicting the most beautiful woman ever, the painter decided that her beauty would be in the mind of the beholder. No lush red lips, seducing smile, shapely figure or anything. Just an outline of a figure.<figure id="a424"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*I-5hgoPcEELRHkLIQzlOnA.jpeg"><figcaption>The painting I saw was probably Gustav Moreau’s Hélène sur les Remparts de Troie II. This is my 2-minute crude sketch. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?</figcaption></figure>I found the image captivating, it stirred emotion as well as philosophical questions. It has done so ever since. Even now, 8 years later, I find myself thinking about it again.Is it possible to be the most beautiful? I remember learning that not a soul would dispute this fact. I actually find it hard to imagine that everyone on the planet agrees about anything, even more so with "emotional" facts. How beautiful do you need to be to be?On a side note: remembering extreme things is hard. At any of my local drugstores you can buy re

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d multivitamin pills. You are supposed to swallow them. If you bite them, however, you are met with an extremely foul taste. So foul, in fact, that you cannot remember the disgusting taste even a minute later. You only remember that it was even more evil than you imagined before biting into it and how awful it felt while chewing.I wonder about what happens when you meet Helen? Do you have the off worldly experience of looking at the most beautiful woman ever? Or do you only realize this later? More importantly: what happens after you turn away your gaze? Will you feel a sense of loss? And is the experience of beauty immediately filled by some void (in the sense that you cannot pinpoint exactly what you have seen)?I don't know a thing about art. To me it's about captivating me in one way or another. This work exceeded my expectations. It could be that Morteau was contemplating a new style, trying out his new brushes, or maybe he was doing a study for a larger piece he had planned. Perhaps he actually wanted to convey exactly the feeling I got from it.Whatever it was, I know love this piece. I won't go as far to say that Gustav Moreau’s is the most beautiful painting in the world, but it's pretty close.I will therefore refrain from including the picture or even linking it. I am sure your imagination does better.This story is my second post in my 10-in-10-challenge, where I am challenged to write, edit and publish 10 stories in 10 days. Feel free to join the challenge! See the publications details on how to submit.</article></body>

No art does justice to the most beautiful woman in the world

Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman in the world. Although some descriptions exist, no words can do her beauty any justice.

Today’s movies and paintings make her a blonde, but ancient Greek paintings show her as a brunette. Homer merely tells us she was “white-armed, long robed, and richly tressed,” leaving the rest up to our imagination.

Helen according to Homer — from Margaret George's article on Helen

“Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world. Can you imagine? She was the most beautiful in the world!”

“Yeah…”

“Really? Can you really do that? She wasn’t just beautiful or extremely beautiful. She was the most beautiful in the world! Everybody agreed. Helen is the most beautiful.”

“Well, beauty is a relative term. While some people think…”

“That’s what I mean. She was the most beautiful.”

“That’s impossible.”

“My point exactly”

I remember the above conversation as I was on my way back from the museum. What would you answer? Can you imagine her beauty? Again, to me it's unimaginable. However I imagine her, I know for a fact she must be even more beautiful. It makes perfect sense to me that her beauty is hardly described by Homer or any other wordsmith out there.

At an exhibition in 2013 I couldn't help but stare at a painting of Helen. Instead of depicting the most beautiful woman ever, the painter decided that her beauty would be in the mind of the beholder. No lush red lips, seducing smile, shapely figure or anything. Just an outline of a figure.

The painting I saw was probably Gustav Moreau’s Hélène sur les Remparts de Troie II. This is my 2-minute crude sketch. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?

I found the image captivating, it stirred emotion as well as philosophical questions. It has done so ever since. Even now, 8 years later, I find myself thinking about it again.

Is it possible to be the most beautiful? I remember learning that not a soul would dispute this fact. I actually find it hard to imagine that everyone on the planet agrees about anything, even more so with "emotional" facts. How beautiful do you need to be to be?

On a side note: remembering extreme things is hard. At any of my local drugstores you can buy red multivitamin pills. You are supposed to swallow them. If you bite them, however, you are met with an extremely foul taste. So foul, in fact, that you cannot remember the disgusting taste even a minute later. You only remember that it was even more evil than you imagined before biting into it and how awful it felt while chewing.

I wonder about what happens when you meet Helen? Do you have the off worldly experience of looking at the most beautiful woman ever? Or do you only realize this later? More importantly: what happens after you turn away your gaze? Will you feel a sense of loss? And is the experience of beauty immediately filled by some void (in the sense that you cannot pinpoint exactly what you have seen)?

I don't know a thing about art. To me it's about captivating me in one way or another. This work exceeded my expectations. It could be that Morteau was contemplating a new style, trying out his new brushes, or maybe he was doing a study for a larger piece he had planned. Perhaps he actually wanted to convey exactly the feeling I got from it.

Whatever it was, I know love this piece. I won't go as far to say that Gustav Moreau’s is the most beautiful painting in the world, but it's pretty close.

I will therefore refrain from including the picture or even linking it. I am sure your imagination does better.

This story is my second post in my 10-in-10-challenge, where I am challenged to write, edit and publish 10 stories in 10 days. Feel free to join the challenge! See the publications details on how to submit.