Hi, Anton!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AS>> This observation is most excellently demonstrated
AS>> in Clark Ashton Smith's prose poem "The Demon, the
AS>> Angel, and Beauty":
AS>>
AS>> http://eldritchdark.com/writings/
AS>> prose-poetry-plays/10/print

AH>> I found it very interesting.

AS>  I was reminded of it this very Sunday in the State
AS>  History Museum, while exploring with my 20x loupe
AS>  a 16th-century print of Durer's "Melencholia I", on
AS>  expositon from Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo.


          Albrecht Durer, 1471-1528.  Once again you piqued my interest because Dallas & I have a copy of "The Little Owl" dated 1508.  :-)



AS>  The angel and the putto are both rather gloomy.


          I don't know much about visual art in general or about this artist in particular... but I've always thought my owl looked a bit sad & began to wonder upon reading your comments what was going on in Durer's mind.

          Uncle Google tells me the work you're referring to dates back to 1514
... the year the artist's mother died... and it's also widely believed that his arranged marriage was not a happy one.  I see no further evidence of sadness in what I can find on the Internet.  The images there are small, however, and I am aware of other situations in which e.g. the audience wouldn't realize Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his "Ode to Joy" if they hadn't been told.



AS>  They have failed to penetrate the secret of Beauty
AS>  in spite of all the instruments they have tried to
AS>  measure it,


              Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
              Or what's a heaven for?   -- Robert Browning


          While I don't think art necessarily has to be beautiful it's probably more attractive to people in general when it comes close at least.  In my youth I had a rare opportunity to spend some time alone with an aunt who had received formal training in visual art whereas I was studying music.  We found that many of the terms we used, such as form and texture, were identical.  But being able to discuss the whys & wherefores doesn't turn people into artists or musicians.



AS>  for Beauty is God or at least from God.


          Summarizing the prose poem you mentioned above:

 1).  The author uses a capital letter... not unusual, based on my observations
      of poetry & of prayer books written around the same time.  He's uncertain
      as to whether he ought to say "he", "she", or "it".

 2).  The Demon says "I've never experienced it, and now I doubt it's real."

 3).  The Angel's reply is more thoughtful.  It suggests to me that when I find
      myself particularly moved by a bit of music... frisson... I am not alone.



AS>  It is a Platonic ideal.


          I don't know much about philosophy either.  But when I see a photo of the Rocky Mountains &/or drive alongside the Fraser Canyon I understand why the psalmist was moved to say "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help," and why others believed the gods lived on Mt. Olympus....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+