Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Harmonious Proportions in Furniture

Here is a video produced by the writers of the book By Hand and Eye, about using harmonious proportion in traditional furniture. Some readers may remember that I featured this book a year ago, to demonstrate how ordinary things in the home can be made beautiful and create a culture that points to the beauty of the cosmos and, I believe, draw people to God. The link is here.

The numerical relationships in the furniture correspond to that in the patterns of the cosmos. Because the liturgy follows the motions of the cosmos too, all are interconnected and all point to Beauty itself. In this way, we can order all aspects of time and space according to liturgical principles, so that all things may point us to the invisible standard that connects them all, God.

The writers of the book are not, to my knowledge, interested in connecting traditional New England furniture to the liturgy; their interest is simply what gives this furniture characteristically elegant so that they can incorporate it into the furniture they make.


Don't forget the Way of Beauty online courses www.Pontifex.University (go to the Catalog) for college credit, for continuing ed. units, or for audit. A formation through an encounter with a cultural heritage - for artists, architects, priests and seminarians, and all interested in contributing to the 'new epiphany of beauty'. 

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