Art is a short word for a very complex reality. Beauty is closely related to art, but the two are certainly not the same. Some artists are concerned with the creation of something beautiful, but some are not. Painting, said Leonardo da Vinci, is “a mental thing”, a thing of the mind, and so it is. But painting may be changed with emotion, by showing what lies behind things. Thus, art transforms everything it touches.       

     
                                                      An Old Man And His Grandson
                                  
                                                                    Domenico Ghirlandaio c. 1490.
                                                                   Oil on wood panel. Louvre, Paris.
 

The old man probably had a rhinophyma. Love and kindness for his grandson shines through the old man’s disfigured face. An ugly, disagreeable face can be changed by the magic of art into a beautiful portrait. This magical transformation requires a veritable chemistry of technique, work, and knowledge..