Line of Beauty

The Line of Beauty is a term and a theory in Art or Aesthetics used to

describe an S-shaped curved line (a serpentine line) appearing within an object,

as the boundary line of an object, or as a virtual boundary line formed by the

composition of several objects. This theory originated with William Hogarth

(18th century English painter, satyrist, and writer), and is an essential part of

Hogarth's theory of Aesthetics as described in his Analysis of Beauty (1753).

According to this theory, S-Shaped curved lines signify liveliness and activity

and excite the attention of the viewer as contrasted with straight lines, parallel

lines, or right-angled intersecting lines which signify stasis, death, or inanimate objects.