BEAUTIFUL FIGURES AND UGLY CHILDREN:
A CONCISE HISTORY OF A JOKE
NORMAN E. LAND
Plato (424–347 BC) is among the first to discuss two of the most impor-
tant dimensions of human life—love and art. In the Symposium, Soc-
rates describes a parallel between love and creation, specifically pro-
creation and artistic creation. He explains that animals are driven
by desire. They seek union with one another to produce offspring,
which they ferociously protect and defend. Humans also seek to pro-
create, but, unlike animals, their goal is to achieve a kind of immortal-
ity through their children. Driven by love, a man will seek the good
and the beautiful. He desires to possess beauty, and he begets children
from a beautiful woman. In a sense, the children replace the parents,
source: notes in the history of art. fall / winter 2016. © 2016 by bard
graduate center. all rights reserved. 0737-4453/2016/3501-0016 $10.00
SOURCE: Notes in the History of Art, Fall 2015-Winter 2016.
© Norman E. Land