"Beauty Is a Minefield"

Ain't that the truth.  Harper's has a thoughtful essay on the nature and history of beauty, prompted by (but not much lingering on) Umberto Eco's new book, History of Beauty.  The essay includes the first sound description I have come across of the distinction between the sublime and the beautiful - a distinction in which I have had a passive interest for some time:

Beauty, for instance, which is characterized by charm, harmony, simplicity, radiance, along with perfection of detail, derives from feelings of pleasure and has a relaxing effect on the "fibers" of the human body. By contrast, the sublime, which derives from feelings of pain, tightens these fibers. Beauty merely invites; the sublime commands.

This distinction comes from Edmund Burke, in his book known (in shorthand) as On the Sublime.  It might be right, it might be wrong - but it's a good starting point, anyway.

I had always thought On the Sublime would be a good place to start my inquiry, and I feel that more so now.  Perhaps I'll pick up a copy.  Or Eco's book, for that matter.