On Ugliness - by Umberto Eco

This richly illustrated companion to Eco's On Beauty traces humanity's evolving perceptions of ugliness across history, from ancient caricatures and medieval grotesques to Renaissance monsters, Enlightenment satire, and modern horrors like fascism and cyberpunk dystopias. Blending philosophy, art history, and cultural critique with over 500 images, Eco explores ugliness as a subjective, often subversive force that defines beauty by contrast, challenges norms, and reflects societal anxieties.