What might Plato say about Delacroix's painting of a bed - Essay Example

What might Plato say about Delacroixs painting of a bed? Might he prefer Tracy Emins artwork, which at least uses an actual bed? Plato was worried about memitic art for reasons that they lead us away from the truth and that they are deceptive. He criticizes it to be devoid of any real knowledge. He even suggested that it should be banned from an ideal state. Thus, he is particular about originality of an artwork which is supposed to convey beauty that would make the artist immortal. In the artworks of both Delacroix’s painting and Tracy Emin’s actual bed, Plato may be critical of Delacroix painting of a bed because it is a mere copy of an unmade bed.

It was painted by Delacroix for its own sake of mimicking in canvass what an unmade bed is and therefore leads us away from the truth from Plato’s standard. And if Plato will have his way, such artwork will never be shown. Tracy Emins bed may have earned considerable criticism from the media but it will be lauded by Plato for its sheer rawness of representing life and its sordid circumstance. The secretions in the sheet, condoms, knickers and stains while disliked by many of its critic may be an ideal artwork for Plato.

For one, it does not copy anything but rather represents something which is not the literal bed. The confused, unarranged and sorry state of the bed was actually a metaphysical representation of Emin’s condition when she suffered from depression that nearly pushed her to commit suicide. It may not be aesthetically pleasing but Plato may find beauty in it.