Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME
- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- MODERN PAINTERS
- AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE RE-ARRANGED EDITION (1883)
- AUTHOR'S SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS
- PART III OF IDEAS OF BEAUTY
- SECTION I OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY
- CHAPTER I OF THE RANK AND RELATIONS OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY
- CHAPTER II OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY AS CONCERNED WITH PLEASURES OF SENSE
- CHAPTER III OF ACCURACY AND INACCURACY IN IMPRESSIONS OF SENSE
- CHAPTER IV OF FALSE OPINIONS HELD CONCERNING BEAUTY
- CHAPTER V OF TYPICAL BEAUTY:–FIRST, OF INFINITY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY
- CHAPTER VI OF UNITY, OR THE TYPE OF THE DIVINE COMPREHENSIVENESS
- CHAPTER VII OF REPOSE, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE PERMANENCE
- CHAPTER VIII OF SYMMETRY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE JUSTICE
- CHAPTER IX OF PURITY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE ENERGY
- CHAPTER X OF MODERATION, OR THE TYPE OF GOVERNMENT BY LAW
- CHAPTER XI GENERAL INFERENCES RESPECTING TYPICAL BEAUTY
- CHAPTER XII OF VITAL BEAUTY. I. OF RELATIVE VITAL BEAUTY
- CHAPTER XIII II. OF GENERIC VITAL BEAUTY
- CHAPTER XIV III. OF VITAL BEAUTY IN MAN
- CHAPTER XV GENERAL CONCLUSIONS RESPECTING THE THEORETIC FACULTY
- SECTION II OF THE IMAGINATIVE FACULTY
- APPENDIX
- Plate section
CHAPTER IX - OF PURITY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE ENERGY
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME
- BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
- MODERN PAINTERS
- AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE RE-ARRANGED EDITION (1883)
- AUTHOR'S SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS
- PART III OF IDEAS OF BEAUTY
- SECTION I OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY
- CHAPTER I OF THE RANK AND RELATIONS OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY
- CHAPTER II OF THE THEORETIC FACULTY AS CONCERNED WITH PLEASURES OF SENSE
- CHAPTER III OF ACCURACY AND INACCURACY IN IMPRESSIONS OF SENSE
- CHAPTER IV OF FALSE OPINIONS HELD CONCERNING BEAUTY
- CHAPTER V OF TYPICAL BEAUTY:–FIRST, OF INFINITY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE INCOMPREHENSIBILITY
- CHAPTER VI OF UNITY, OR THE TYPE OF THE DIVINE COMPREHENSIVENESS
- CHAPTER VII OF REPOSE, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE PERMANENCE
- CHAPTER VIII OF SYMMETRY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE JUSTICE
- CHAPTER IX OF PURITY, OR THE TYPE OF DIVINE ENERGY
- CHAPTER X OF MODERATION, OR THE TYPE OF GOVERNMENT BY LAW
- CHAPTER XI GENERAL INFERENCES RESPECTING TYPICAL BEAUTY
- CHAPTER XII OF VITAL BEAUTY. I. OF RELATIVE VITAL BEAUTY
- CHAPTER XIII II. OF GENERIC VITAL BEAUTY
- CHAPTER XIV III. OF VITAL BEAUTY IN MAN
- CHAPTER XV GENERAL CONCLUSIONS RESPECTING THE THEORETIC FACULTY
- SECTION II OF THE IMAGINATIVE FACULTY
- APPENDIX
- Plate section
Summary
The Influence of Light, as a sacred symbol
It may at first appear strange that I have not, in my enumeration of the Types of Divine attributes, included that which is certainly the most visible and evident of all, as well as the most distinctly expressed in Scripture; “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” But I could not logically class the presence of an actual substance or motion with mere conditions and modes of being; neither could I logically separate from any of these, that which is evidently necessary to the perception of all. And it is also to be observed, that, though the love of light is more instinctive in the human heart than any other of the desires connected with beauty, we can hardly separate its agreeableness in its own nature from the sense of its necessity and value for the purposes of life; neither the abstract painfulness of darkness from the sense of danger and powerlessness connected with it. And note also that it is not all light, but light possessing the universal qualities of beauty, diffused or infinite rather than in points; tranquil, not startling and variable; pure, not sullied or oppressed; which is indeed pleasant and perfectly typical of the Divine nature.
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- The Works of John Ruskin , pp. 128 - 134Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1903