Pretty Hurts

Giotto's "Lamentation"

I love this piece because of the clear emotion and the variety of emotion in each person's actions; the angels screaming in anguish and tearing their hair out, the somber expressions of the men to the right, the young man throwing his arms in disbelief, and Mary--mother of Jesus--in silent sorrow, embracing her fallen son.
In his work, Giotto strove for realism and naturalism. "How would a human feel if he or she were to lose the one they love?" They surely wouldn't react the same for that would be boring and ineffective. If Giotto depicted all the figures in the painting to act as the men on the right were, the picture would lack feeling. If he were to depict each figure to have the emotions of the angels then it would surely be dramatic, but not real, not genuine.
The difference in reactions to this loved one's death is the beauty of this painting. And this brings me to my next point: "pretty hurts"
This is a mantra adopted by the female species; in order to be attractive one must endure pain. Plucking your eyebrows, shaving, waxing, and even to the extremes of anorexia or surgery. Reconstructing or painting oneself to match the world's idea of attractive is what women for centuries work towards their whole life.
Generally applied to females, "pretty hurts" also can be applied to mankind. For the sake of the men I will make use of the gender-neutral phrase, "no pain, no gain".
This means the same; you can't gain money, success, beauty, spirituality, etc. without enduring some sort of hardship. Jesus couldn't save mankind without dying on the cross first. We never know if we truly love something or someone until we've lost them. That's what makes this painting beautiful, that is what makes life beautiful--the pain.