An exhibition currently on view at the Bozar Center for Fine Arts in Brussels explores the intertwined concepts of beauty and ugliness during the Renaissance, highlighting how these opposing aesthetic qualities influenced artistic expression and cultural values from the late 15th to the late 16th centuries. Running through June 14, the show features over 90 works from both Italian and Northern European masters, offering insight into the complex dialogue between idealized beauty and its contrasting counterparts.

Titled “Bellezza e Bruttezza: Beauty and Ugliness in the Renaissance,” the exhibition unfolds across thirteen galleries painted in rich jewel tones. It presents paintings, sculptures, and objects that illuminate the dynamic interplay between what was considered beautiful and what was deemed ugly in Renaissance art, a period marked by heightened interest in human form, proportion, and moral symbolism.

Classical ideas of beauty prominently feature in the show. Works such as a treatise by Renaissance humanist Leon Battista Alberti articulate beauty as synonymous with harmony and virtue. This notion is echoed in Albrecht Dürer’s 1528 publication, “Four Books on Human Proportions,” which meticulously measures the ideal female body into precise segments, reflecting the era’s preoccupation with mathematical order and perfection. Portraits like Lorenzo di Credi’s “Venus” (circa 1490) depict the goddess of love and beauty with a blend of radiance and modesty, embodying Renaissance ideals of physical grace coupled with moral restraint. Titian’s “Woman Holding an Apple” (1550-55) similarly employs beauty to elevate his sitter’s status by invoking Venus motifs, while his 1549 portrait of Charles V presents an enhanced, dignified image of the Holy Roman Emperor, contrasting starkly with earlier, less flattering depictions.

The exhibition also explores how Renaissance artists used contrasts between beauty and ugliness to convey moral or allegorical messages. For example, Vincent Sellaer’s “Jupiter as a Satyr, Antiope and Their Children Amphion and Zethos” (circa 1530) shows a serene nymph evading a grotesque satyr, embodying themes of desire and purity. Frans Floris de Vriendt’s “Pomona” (1565) depicts the goddess of fruit and vegetables recoiling from the lustful Pan. Additionally, works like Lucas Cranach the Elder’s “Ill-Matched Couple (Young Man and Old Woman)” (circa 1520-22) and a mid-16th-century painting by the Master of the Prodigal Son critique moral corruption through depictions of mismatched couples, using physical disparity as a symbol of social or sexual folly.

The presentation of ugliness in the show is nuanced and at times challenges modern perceptions. Portraits feature the physical realities of aging, illness, and disability, including representations of elderly women with wrinkles and sagging skin, a figure with hypertrichosis, and even a mentally ill man undergoing treatment. Paintings such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 1559 “Proverbs” vividly portray human folly through exaggerated, sometimes grotesque characters like drunken revelers and avaricious tax collectors. Though these images reflect period prejudices linking appearance to moral character, they are executed with detailed craftsmanship that invites reflection on the subjective nature of beauty.

Together, the works on display provide a rich visual exploration of how Renaissance artists grappled with defining beauty and ugliness, revealing a historically rooted aesthetic tension that continues to resonate in contemporary conceptions of appearance and virtue.