Beauty is the key word of Western aesthetics. Beyond the aesthetic gaze admiring ‘autonomous beauty’, however, it is possible to detect other, archaic forms or ways of relating to the striking ‘first appearance’ of things – for example, ‘splendour’ or ‘brilliance’. Splendour stands for a surplus in the presence of things. This surplus resides in the fact that something ‘shows itself ‘, as if bearing in itself the condition of becoming visible. Splendour transforms and elevates the beautiful thing into an ‘appearance’ that detaches itself from its environment and stands out against the everyday. It sparkles or shines and is a source of light. Its glare is not a light that falls on things. It radiates from the inside out; it is not only seen but almost felt: it implies an aura. Splendour glorifies; it transforms an object into a sun, a source of light, and makes the beautiful magnificent: grand and rich, independent and sovereign. The beautiful radiates; it reaches beyond itself, and thereby intensifies its presence.

All premodern and traditional cultures use splendour as a sign and as an instrument of power. Mightiness cannot hide; being mighty requires making one's existence tangible where one is absent. Power must impose its presence by controlling and displaying force but also by displaying fullness and abundance, by showing off.