91 SYMMETRY
THE JOYS OF PERFECT BALANCE
Symmetry is a quality of ideal balance, where each half of a picture or sculpture is a perfect mirror image of the other. In art, symmetry is generally vertical, which is to say that the central axis runs from top to bottom of the artwork. This is known as “bilateral symmetry.”
Symmetrical images convey a sense of frontality and stability and can be particularly powerful in creating a sense of presence. Because the human body is more or less symmetrical, we perhaps associate symmetry with the presence of another being.
This quality of presence conveyed by symmetrical images has been used over the millennia in religious art. There are many examples, ranging from Byzantine, medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque ...
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