Book Review: 'On Beauty' by Umberto Eco

A Journey Through Art’s Ever-Changing Ideals

Title: On Beauty: A History of a Western Idea

Author: Umberto Eco

Publisher: MacLehose Press

Publication Date: September 30, 2010

Purchase: Amazon (affiliate link)

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Umberto Eco’s On Beauty, originally published in Italian as Storia della Bellezza, is an exquisite exploration of the concept of beauty across cultures and epochs. Eco, a renowned philosopher, semiotician, and author, takes readers on a historical and aesthetic journey to unpack how beauty has been perceived, depicted, and debated throughout Western art and philosophy. This book serves as a visual anthology, filled with stunning reproductions of artworks that capture the shifting ideals of beauty over the centuries. With Eco’s guidance, readers gain insight not only into what beauty is but into the values, beliefs, and identities that have shaped and been shaped by these ideals.

Structure and Approach

On Beauty is organized chronologically, covering key periods in Western civilization's art history, from ancient Greece to modernity. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific era or movement, making it accessible to readers as both a reference and a narrative guide to Western aesthetics. Eco interweaves philosophical discourse with visual examples, making connections between the theoretical ideas of thinkers like Plato, Kant, and Baudelaire with the visual representations of beauty by artists from Botticelli to Picasso. The illustrations serve as focal points, allowing Eco to draw parallels and contrasts between periods and styles, helping readers visually trace the evolution of beauty across different contexts.

Ancient and Classical Beauty