Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Manifiesto a favor
de la Belleza en el sistema educativo
The vital Beauty. A manifesto for Beauty
in the education system
Dr. Alberto CAMPO BAEZA. Académico de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
(estudio@campobaeza.com).
Resumen: Abstract:
Este Manifiesto desea convencer de la This manifesto argues for the impor-
importancia de cultivar las Bellas Artes en tance of cultivating the fine arts in the ed-
la enseñanza, en los niños, y de su relación ucation of children and their relationship
con el cultivo de la inteligencia. La poesía, with the cultivation of intelligence. Poet-
la música, el dibujo, la pintura, la filosofía ry, music, drawing, painting, and philoso-
son transmisores de la Belleza, que va indi- phy transmit Beauty, which is inseparably
solublemente unida a la razón, a la verdad. linked to reason and truth.
Descriptores: bellas artes, manifiesto por Keywords: fine arts, manifesto for beau-
la belleza, sistema educativo, cultivo de la ty, education system, cultivating intelli-
inteligencia, verdad, cultura, infancia, ado- gence, truth, culture, childhood, adoles-
lescencia. cence.
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Alberto CAMPO BAEZA
con el cultivo de la inteligencia. Porque la yo, de esa impresión que nos causó escu-
Belleza va indisolublemente unida a la ra- char palabras que sonaban tan bien por
zón, a la verdad. «Esplendor de la verdad» causa de aquello que nos decían que era
revista española de pedagogía
era como Platón definía la Belleza. Y, de poesía. ¿No se acuerdan ustedes del pri-
momento, ni la razón ni la Verdad ni la mer poema que escribieron de pequeños
Belleza, son patrimonio de los ricos. Son tras quedarse fascinados después de oír la
patrimonio de todos. Adán, que no tenía copla de Manrique? ¿Y la cara de felicidad
nada, quedó tan prendado de la Belleza su- del profesor y de los otros alumnos cuando
blime de Eva, que cuando ella le ofreció la lo recitaron en voz alta en clase? ¿Y la de
manzana, se la comió sin rechistar. No por sus padres y sus hermanos cuando lo recitó
la manzana, sino por Eva, por su Belleza. esa misma noche en su casa?
Yo todavía recuerdo un recital de pia- como enanos. Yo quisiera ser uno de ellos.
no de D. José Cubiles en Cádiz. En verano, ¡Cómo me gustaría a mí estar entre esos
cuando los Festivales de España, se hacían niños cantando a Bach con esa precisión y
los conciertos en la Facultad de Medicina ese entusiasmo!
que estaba al lado de casa. Todavía recuer-
do un Noche en los jardines de España de Y cuando se trata de escribir sobre las
Falla, tocado por Cubiles. Me faltó tiempo Bellas Artes en la enseñanza y el cultivo de
para, en los días siguientes, con mis gui- la inteligencia, mi respuesta sería, si pu-
ñoles, imitar aquel concierto de Cubiles. diera, que los que lean estas líneas, acom-
Construí el piano con viejas radiografías pañados de sus niños, vieran y disfrutaran
negras de mi padre. Fue un gran éxito de de este vídeo increíble capaz de convencer
crítica y público. a cualquier niño de apuntarse a aquello, de
querer ser uno de ellos: https://www.you-
Mis hermanos y yo, bien aleccionados tube.com/watch?v=QrrdWYh9Hwc
por nuestros padres, cogíamos el gramófo-
no La Voz de su Amo y, embelesados, ponía- Y es que la Música es transmisora de
mos música clásica. La tata, a la que que- Belleza. Y más de la mano de Bach a través
ríamos mucho, siempre decía: «Ya están los de los niños.
señoritos, poniendo música de muertos».
La batalla de San Romano de Paolo Ucello tes se dijeron «solo sé que no sé nada»? A lo
del Museo del Louvre, y volvió a preguntar mejor fue cuando escucharon que la Belle-
cuántas lanzas enhiestas y cuántas incli- za era el esplendor de la Verdad, propues-
nadas. Yo, rápidamente, volví a levantar to por Platón. Y pensaron: «¡pues claro!»
la mano y dije: «¡veinticinco inclinadas y Parece que los niños no fueran capaces de
cuatro enhiestas!» «Exacto —volvió a decir entender la Filosofía, y ¡vaya que lo son!
el profesor—». Y nos explicó cómo seguro
que Velázquez conocía el cuadro de Ucello El cardenal Joseph Ratzinger, en un
pintado 200 años antes, intentando, todo mensaje muy hermoso a los participan-
lo contrario que Velázquez, trasladar a tes en un Meeting de Rímini (Italia) del
su cuadro el fragor de la batalla. Porque movimiento eclesial Comunión y Libera-
Velázquez, nos aseguró el profesor, inten- ción sobre el tema «La contemplación de
taba, y lo consiguió, trasladar todo lo con- la belleza», les decía algo con claros ecos
trario, la paz y la serenidad de la rendición platónicos:
de Breda. No lo olvidaré en la vida. Desde
entonces soy devoto de Velázquez. Y por Quien ha percibido esta belleza sabe
que la verdad es la última palabra sobre el
entonces empecé a pintar.
mundo, y no la mentira. No es «verdad» la
mentira, sino la Verdad. Digámoslo así: un
He escrito muchas veces que dibujar es nuevo truco de la mentira es presentarse
pensar con las manos. No solo para un ar- como «verdad» y decirnos: «más allá de mí
quitecto, que es obvio, sino para todos. En no hay nada, dejad de buscar la verdad o,
la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San peor aún, de amarla, porque si obráis así
Fernando, solo hay un Velázquez: el dibujo vais por el camino equivocado». El icono
año 79, n.º 278, enero-abril 2021, 95-101
del Cardenal Borja, uno de los pocos dibu- de Cristo crucificado nos libera del enga-
jos que se conservan de Velázquez. Es una ño hoy tan extendido. Sin embargo, pone
verdadera maravilla. Porque Velázquez, como condición que nos dejemos herir jun-
to con él y que creamos en el Amor, que
revista española de pedagogía
Entonces habremos encontrado la belleza Julián Marías apuntaba que las tres
de la Verdad, de la Verdad redentora. Nada cualidades que debe tener un docente son:
puede acercarnos más a la Belleza, que es saber, saber enseñar y querer enseñar.
Cristo mismo, que el mundo de belleza que Muy claro, muy orteguiano. Yo recuerdo
la fe ha creado y la luz que resplandece en a mis mejores profesores, tanto de cuando
el rostro de los santos, mediante la cual se
era pequeño como de la universidad, como
vuelve visible su propia luz.
personas extraordinariamente cultas, que
no solo hablaban de sus temas específicos,
7. Denodadamente sino también de todo lo relacionado con la
Cuando escribí mi discurso de ingre- Cultura. Y así lo he intentado hacer cuan-
so como Académico en la Real Academia do me ha tocado ser profesor.
de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, busqué
un tema central, la Belleza ¡cómo no! Y, Y por la misma razón, las tres cualida-
para golpear a los presentes, busqué un des de un alumno deberían ser: saber que
término contundente capaz de despertar no se sabe, saber aprender y querer apren-
en ellos ese deseo de Belleza. Y titulé mi der. Yo le diría a un alumno pequeño que
parlamento «Buscar denodadamente la fuera consciente de que no sabe nada, pero
Belleza». que tiene fácil solución. Que aprenda a
aprender, que es poner toda su atención en
Porque creo que es lo que hacemos to- lo que hace. Y que quiera aprender, que es
dos los seres humanos, de manera más o dedicar todo el tiempo que haga falta. Y si
menos consciente. Y allí esgrimí mil ar- además ahí aparecen el Dibujo y la Música
gumentos que creo volvieron a conven- y la Poesía y la Filosofía y la Danza y la
dría un niño no entender que la luz, la luz Homero en su Odisea. Les puedo asegurar
del sol en continuo movimiento, es un in- que el espectáculo es de una enorme belle-
grediente de la Belleza? za. Y por eso lo traigo aquí, porque el mo-
vimiento de la luz hace visible la Belleza,
La ventana de mi habitación en Madrid da razón del paso del tiempo y confirma mi
es ilegal y grande. Y con vistas estupendas reiterada afirmación de que la luz constru-
a todos los tejados y azoteas y chimeneas ye el tiempo. Y la Belleza. Desde la aurora
de acero inoxidable que llegan hasta los hasta el ocaso.
edificios más altos de la Plaza de España.
Como está orientada a oeste, cada día al
atardecer recibe directamente los rayos 10. Conclusión. Aun aprendo
de sol que, en invierno, me calientan que Termino de escribir este texto en defen-
da gusto, y en verano también, con menos sa de la presencia de las Bellas Artes en la
gusto. Pero, por las mañanas, a la hora enseñanza, con el valor que les correspon-
precisa, todas las chimeneas que adornan de, y vuelvo a sentir que, una vez más, sigo
ese paisaje de azoteas madrileñas, que casi aprendiendo. Aquello que tan bien resume
todas son de acero inoxidable brillante, se Goya en ese pequeño grabado que figura-
tiñen de la luz rosácea del sol naciente de ba en su última exposición en el Museo del
los amaneceres de Madrid. Y por razón Prado: «Aun aprendo» escribía sobre el
del movimiento de la luz, el prodigio solo grabado del anciano, pelo blanco y barbas
dura un tiempo corto. A mí me viene a la blancas y apoyándose en dos cayados. Pues
cabeza, y al corazón, el que son tocadas por con esta reflexión llena de recuerdos per-
la aurora de los dedos rosáceos de la que sonales, yo he vuelto, a mi edad, a apren-
año 79, n.º 278, enero-abril 2021, 95-101
Fuente: de Goya y Lucientes, F. J. (1825-1828). Aun aprendo [Dibujo a lápiz negro y lápiz
litográfico sobre papel verjurado]. Museo del Prado, Madrid, España.
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La Belleza necesaria. Manifiesto a favor de la Belleza en el sistema educativo
Abstract: Resumen:
This manifesto argues for the impor- Este Manifiesto desea convencer de la im-
tance of cultivating the fine arts in the edu- portancia de cultivar las Bellas Artes en la
cation of children and their relationship with enseñanza, en los niños, y de su relación con
the cultivation of intelligence. Poetry, music, el cultivo de la inteligencia. La poesía, la músi-
drawing, painting, and philosophy transmit ca, el dibujo, la pintura, la filosofía son trans-
Beauty, which is inseparably linked to reason misores de la Belleza, que va indisolublemente
and truth. unida a la razón, a la verdad.
Keywords: fine arts, manifesto for beauty, Descriptores: bellas artes, manifiesto por la
education system, cultivating intelligence, belleza, sistema educativo, cultivo de la inteli-
truth, culture, childhood, adolescence. gencia, verdad, cultura, infancia, adolescencia.
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Alberto CAMPO BAEZA
This manifesto argues for the impor- I am sure that you will remember, like
tance of cultivating the fine arts in the edu- me, how hearing words that sounded so
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 95-101
cation of children and their relationship good, because what they said was poetry, had
with the cultivation of intelligence. Be- such an impression on us. Do you remem-
cause Beauty is inseparably linked to rea- ber the first poem you wrote when you were
son and to truth. “The splendour of truth” children after being left captivated when
revista española de pedagogía
was how Plato defined Beauty. And, for you heard Manrique’s verses? And the ex-
the time being, neither reason nor Truth pressions of delight of your teacher and the
nor Beauty are the patrimony of the rich. other students when you recited it in class.
They belong to everyone. Adam, who had And the faces of your parents and siblings
nothing, was so captivated by the sublime when you recited it that night at home?
Beauty of Eve, that when she offered him
the apple, he ate it without objection. Not
because of the apple but because of Eve, 3. Music
because of her Beauty. Do you recall the family gathering
where everyone applauded when you, still
Is it so hard to convince children and but a child, played that well-known melo-
adolescents of this need for Beauty? I dy on the recorder?
think not. I believe that children in par-
ticular understand the Beauty we have I still remember a piano recital by José
been given in this world. And I think that Cubiles in Cádiz. In the summer, during
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The vital Beauty. A manifesto for Beauty in the education system
the Festivales de España, concerts were And when it comes to writing about
held in the Faculty of Medicine next to my fine arts in teaching and the cultivation
house. I still recall Cubiles playing Manuel of intelligence, my answer would, if pos-
de Falla’s Nights in the gardens of Spain. sible, be that the readers of these lines
In the following days I rushed to imitate and their children, should watch and en-
that concert by Cubiles with my puppets. I joy this incredible video that can convince
made the piano out of old black x-rays be- any child to join in with that, to want to
longing to my father. It was a great success be one of them: https://www.youtube.com/
with critics and the public. watch?v=QrrdWYh9Hwc
My siblings and I, well taught by our And the fact is that music transmits
parents, took the His Master’s Voice gramo- Beauty. Especially hand in hand with Bach
phone and, spellbound, played classical through the children.
music. The maid, whom we loved very
much, always used to say: “There go the
children, playing funeral music.” 5. Drawing, painting
Do you remember the excitement with
Yesterday I got very excited when I which you showed your mother the first
asked a friend of mine about his son, who drawing you did after seeing Picasso’s
had been one of my students, and my sketches? After returning from the visit
friend answered that he had just dropped to that exhibition when we were so young,
him off at his clarinet class. we thought that we could also do it. And
and said: “Twenty-five sloping and four of truth. And you thought “of course!” It
upright!” “Exactly,” the teacher said might seem like children would not be able
again. And he told us how Velázquez must to understand philosophy, but of course
have known the work from 200 years ear- they can!
lier, where, in contrast with Velázquez,
Ucello tried to show the uproar of battle. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in a very
Because Velázquez, the teacher assured beautiful message to the participants at a
us, was trying to depict the opposite, the meeting in Rimini (Italy) of the Commu-
peace and serenity of the surrender of Bre- nion and Liberation ecclesial movement
da, and he managed it. This is something I on the subject of “The contemplation
will not forget as long as I live. Since then of Beauty”, said something with clear
I have been a devotee of Velázquez. And it Platonic echoes:
was around then that I started painting.
Whoever has perceived this beauty
knows that truth, and not falsehood, is
I have often written that to draw is to
the real aspiration of the world. It is not
think with one’s hands. Not just for an ar- the false that is “true”, but indeed, the
chitect, as is obvious, but for everyone. At Truth. It is, as it were, a new trick of
the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San what is false to present itself as “truth”
Fernando, there is just one Velázquez: his and to say to us: over and above me there
drawing of Cardinal Borja, one of the few is basically nothing, stop seeking or even
surviving drawings by Velázquez. It is a loving the truth; in doing so you are on
true marvel. Because Velázquez, as well as the wrong track. The icon of the crucified
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 95-101
being an exceptional painter, was extraor- Christ sets us free from this deception
dinarily good at drawing. that is so widespread today. However it
imposes a condition: that we let ourselves
be wounded by him, and that we believe
I recently donated all of my drawings
in the Love who can risk setting aside his
revista española de pedagogía
— all of them! — to the library of my Es- external beauty to proclaim, in this way,
cuela de Arquitectura de Madrid, and the the truth of the beautiful.
scanned archives of all of these drawings,
more than 12,000 of them, to the school of And in case it was not clear, he put
architecture and to the Real Academia de forth another authoritative argument:
Bellas Artes de San Fernando. I am more
surprised than anyone by the result. Is there anyone who does not know
Dostoyevsky’s often quoted sentence:
“The Beautiful will save us”? However,
6. Philosophy people usually forget that Dostoyevsky is
Do you remember, as children, discov- referring here to the redeeming Beauty
ering philosophy and how with Socrates of Christ. We must learn to see Him. If
you said “I know that I know nothing”? we know Him, not only in words, but if
Maybe it was when you heard Plato’s we are struck by the arrow of His para-
proposal that Beauty was the splendour doxical beauty, then we will truly know
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The vital Beauty. A manifesto for Beauty in the education system
Him, and know Him not only because this flame, the search for Beauty, burn-
we have heard others speak about Him. ing, fine arts are vital; they are the best
Then we will have found the beauty fuel for this fire.
of Truth, of the Truth that redeems.
Nothing can bring us into close contact Julián Marías notes that the three
with the beauty of Christ Himself other qualities a teacher should have are
than the world of beauty created by faith knowledge, the ability to teach, and the
and light that shines out from the faces desire to teach. This is very clear, much
of the saints, through whom His own in the style of Ortega y Gasset. I recall
light becomes visible. the best teachers from my childhood and
university days as being extraordinarily
cultured people, who not only spoke
7. Fearlessly about their specific subjects, but also
When I wrote my inaugural lecture as about everything relating to culture. And
an Academician of the Real Academia de this is what I have tried to do when it has
Bellas Artes de San Fernando, I searched been my turn to teach.
for a central topic, Beauty of course! And,
to make an impact on the audience, I And for the same reason, the three
looked for a compelling term that could qualities of students should be: knowing
awaken that desire for Beauty in them. that they do not know, knowing how to
And I called my talk “Fearlessly seeking learn, and wanting to learn. I would tell
Beauty”. young pupils to be aware that they know
9. Light and Beauty. The rosy fin- the rosy-fingered Dawn of which Homer
gered dawn speaks so well and so often in his Odyssey
How could an architect speak of Beau- comes into my mind and my heart. I can as-
ty without speaking of light? How could a sure you that it is a spectacle of great beauty.
child not understand that light, the con- And this is why I mention it here, because
stantly moving sunlight, is one of the in- the movement of the light reveals Beauty, it
gredients of Beauty? reflects the passage of time and it confirms
my repeated affirmation that light builds
The window of my room in Madrid is time. And Beauty. From dawn to dusk.
large and illegal. And it has outstanding
views over all of the roofs and stainless steel
chimneys stretching as far as the tallest 10. Conclusion I am still learning
buildings of Plaza de España. It faces west As I finish writing this text arguing for
and so every day at dusk it receives the rays the presence of fine arts in teaching with
of the sun, which warm me very pleasantly the value that corresponds to them, I again
in winter and less pleasantly in summer. feel that I am still learning. Something Goya
But, in the morning, at the right moment, expresses so well in a small engraving that
all of the chimneys adorning this landscape featured in his most recent exhibition at the
of rooftops, almost all of which are made Museo del Prado: “I am still learning” he
of shining stainless steel, are flooded with wrote on the engraving of an old man, with
the pink light of the rising sun at dawn in white hair and a white beard supporting
Madrid. And because of the movement of himself on two sticks. As with this reflection
year 79, n. 278, January-April 2021, 95-101
the light, this wonder only lasts for a short full of personal memories, I have been learn-
time. For me, the fact they are touched by ing again, at my age, and have learnt a lot.
revista española de pedagogía
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The vital Beauty. A manifesto for Beauty in the education system
Author biography
Alberto Campo Baeza is Emeritus
Professor in Projects at the Escuela de Ar-
quitectura de Madrid (ETSAM), where he
has taught for over 50 years. He has given
classes at the Eidgenössische Technische
Source: de Goya y Lucientes, F. J. (1797- He has lectured all over the world and
1799). The sleep of reason produces mon- has received numerous prizes. In 2014 he
sters [Etching]. Museo del Prado, Madrid,
Spain. was made a full Academician in the Archi-
tecture Section of Spain’s Real Academia
de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, and an
If I were a father and I had a child International Fellowship was conferred
of the right age, the first thing I would on him by the Royal Institute of British
do is make sure that he asked me to Architects (RIBA). In 2019 he was made
sign him up, wherever I could, for mu- an Honorary Fellow by the American In-
sic, drawing, poetry and philosophy. He stitute of Architects. In 2020 he received
would be happy and I even more so, if the Gold Medal for Architecture awarded
that were possible. And the two of us by the CSCAE (Consejo Superior de los Co-
would be freer. legios de Arquitectos de España).
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