ABSTRACT
Benedetto Varchi, an Italian philosopher and writer, gave lectures on ethics, poetry and beauty at Paduan Accademia degl'Infiammati in the early 1540s. His discussions led to the creation of his treatise, a discourse on beauty and grace ( Discorso della bellezza e della grazia , printed 1590). Varchi uses examples from sculpture to prove that the origin of grace is not in the material or proportions of the form but in the true form of the natural or artificial body.
