Beauty facts for kids

Rayonnant rose window in Notre Dame de Paris. In Gothic architecture, light was considered the most beautiful revelation of God, which was heralded in its design.

Beauty is a property of certain things. Something is beautiful if it is nice to look at it, hear it, feel it, taste it, smell it or think about it. The opposite of beautiful is ugly. It is also the name of a feeling that is hard to describe. The nature of this feeling varies from person to person and culture to culture. It is not known if only humans can feel it.

There are many ideas about what beauty is. Some people say that beauty is:

• The similarity between a real object and an object of art. For example, a beautiful picture might be one that looks very lifelike.
• The similarity between any object and what you think it 'should' look like. For example, a beautiful tree might be one with a straight brown trunk and lots of green leaves, or beautiful clouds might be those that are white and fluffy (like wool).
• The way an object makes us feel: happy, sad, angry, or something else (emotional). For example, a beautiful piece of music might be one which makes people feel very happy or very sad.
• The quality of an object. For example, a beautiful story might be very well written.

There are many other theories. Some things that people say are beautiful are not explained by any of these ideas.

The night sky in the Atacama Desert. The concept of noctcaelador describes an emotional attachment to, or adoration of, the night sky.

Related pages

• Aesthetics
• Physical attractiveness

Images for kids

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  The bust of Nefertiti, 14th century BC

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  An Indian woman in her traditional attire

See also

In Spanish: Belleza para niños