Recently in my Dante class we have been studying Purgatory- the temporary state between Hell and Paradise. In the text, ‘Bella Donna’ is used, which is an Italian phrase, meaning the dominance of the beautiful. My professor gave the definition of beauty...the combination of qualities that give pleasure to the senses; especially to the eye, the ear, and the mind. He expressed that the beautiful can be anywhere, at anytime, or in any era.
As he was talking about Christian theology, he said that one definition of God is often forgotten; THE beautiful, beauty, and the essence of all that is beautiful. Man made beauty is an imitation of natural beauty and natural beauty or nature is divine creation by THE beautiful. I think this is such a neat thought to reflect on. All of our work to create beauty in this world is just an imitation of the natural beauty in which God, the ultimate beauty has created. Nothing that we create can measure up to the beauty that God has created on this earth. Therefore, “sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.” 1 Chronicles 16:9
