读翁贝托《美的历史》。
第九章《从优雅到不适之美》中，作者大段摘录了16世纪意大利人文主义学者巴尔达萨雷•卡斯蒂廖内（Baldassare Castiglione）在《廷臣录》（Book of the Courtier）中论述的何为真正的女性之美：
Haven't you noticed how much prettier a woman is if, when she makes up, she does so with so little that those who see her cannot tell whether she is made up or not? But others are so bedaubed that it looks like they're wearing a mask and dare not laugh because they fear that it will crack...
How much nicer it is to see a woman, a good looking one I mean, who obviously has nothing on her face, neither white nor red, but just her natural color, which may be pale or sometimes slightly tinged with a blush caused by embarrassment or the like, maybe with her hair tousled and whose gestures are simple and natural, without working at being beautiful?
“如果一个女人要化妆，却化得淡到见到她的人都看不出她是否化过妆，你们不觉得这个女人更美么？而其他女人妆容过浓，好似戴了面具，连笑也不敢笑，生怕面具会裂开来……一个好看的女人，很明显脸上并没有扑什么东西，既不白也不红，就是她本来的脸色，可能有点苍白，或不好意思时有点红红的，或许头发还有点蓬乱，但姿势简单自然，并不刻意打扮，见到这样的女人是多么的舒服啊。”（粗略试译）
巴尔达萨雷•卡斯蒂廖内赞美的是一种自然的美，是女性身为女性而不是任何装饰物的美。有位朋友说自己女儿在六岁年纪就说过“美穿素，丑穿花”，在小朋友眼里素打扮和在大作家眼里化淡妆，都是“真”最美。巴尔达萨雷•卡斯蒂廖内给这段文字的英文标题是The Right Feminine Beauty，这个right（正确；合理）也许可以理解为女性之美在于恰如其分。
紧接着这段文字，翁贝托继续摘录了巴尔达萨雷•卡斯蒂廖内给出的优雅的秘诀：
After wondering many times where this gracefulness comes from, apart from those who think it a gift of the heavens, I have found a universal rule, which I think holds good for the things people say or do more than anything else: and that is to avoid affectation as far as possible, as one would dangerous shoals, and at the same time to use a certain nonchalance-if I may coin a phrase-which conceals artifice and shows that what one does or says is done or said effortlessly and almost without thinking.
“想过很多次优雅到底从何而来，除了有人认为的是天赋以外，我发现了一个放之四海而皆准的法则，适用于人们说的或做的任何事：‘那就是尽可能避免矫揉造作，就像避免危险的搁浅一样，同时要显得“云淡风轻”——如果我可以造一个词的话——就是把技巧藏起来，表现出你做的、你说的都是你不经意间做出来的、说出来的。（粗略试译）
避免矫揉造作与素打扮一样，都是自自然然，真真实实，这是优雅的底色。至于“云淡风轻”，我想更多是一种从容。与人交往，内心从从容容，自然就多了真诚，少了技巧和手段，这是优雅的表现。
读了巴尔达萨雷•卡斯蒂廖内的这两段文字，对他美之洞见深以为然，遂对本人产生好奇，没想到他是拉斐尔一生挚友，拉斐尔曾专门为他画过一幅肖像，据说是历代肖像画中经典之经典。看到画中他的眼神，神情，再次被他的美的概念所折服。
