Perhaps it is all in the eye of the beholder

Isn’t taste between the sexes extraordinary, how the face that to one man is divine might be rather more the opposite for another.

As if to remind us of the continuing quirkiness of how we rate looks, the thinking blog-site ThoughtCo offers glimpses of women considered outstandingly beautiful through the ages.

I clicked for the article the moment it arrived, hoping it might answer a question that’s haunted me since, well, for many, many years.

Head turner

In a family photo, an important couple in our history is portrayed on what must have been an important occasion.

The lady is gorgeous and would turn heads in today’s streets if somehow she could appear here as she did then. Actually, the lady kept her looks right through life.

The husband stands not quite beside her and wears the look of someone who has bought into a bad deal. A very bad deal.

He looks much more than just extremely unhappy with his bride.

Why? What was wrong? The passing of time denies us the reason for the portrayed dislike, so I can’t pass it on here, apologies.

They bought it

Perhaps it’s as Samuel Richardson reckoned. 'A beautiful woman must expect to be more accountable for her steps than one less attractive.'

I hate to think what she felt when the photographer offered the portrait to the couple. And yet they bought it.  … Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at   http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/473-perhaps-it-is-all-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder