Francis Bacon on Beauty

Bacon links beauty to virtue and says the best part of beauty cannot be fully shown in a picture or even at first sight. He values decent motion, some strangeness in proportion, and an appearance that lets virtue shine and vices blush.

Reading notes

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• Virtue is best when it is set plainly, and beauty does not guarantee great virtue.
• The most valued part of beauty is not captured by a picture or by first sight.
• Excellent beauty includes some strangeness in proportion.
• Beauty in motion matters more than beauty of color or favor.
• Beauty can seem easier to corrupt with age, yet when it is well matched it makes virtue visible.