The feeling we experience at the sight of the countryside or of anything else that inspires vague or indefinite but delightful thoughts cannot be grasped and can be compared to the experience of one who chases a beautiful butterfly without ever catching it. And so, it leaves the soul yearning: this is our most intense pleasure and everything that is certain and well defined satisfies us less than does this uncertainty, which can never fully satisfy us.
Art of the Landscape
by Raffaele Milani
The images of nature in general express a need for immediacy and are not subject to conventions, rules, or technical specifications. They are something at once instinctive and concealed. Natural beauty is indeterminate and indefinable. The meeting of day and night, light and darkness, the seasons in the form of atmospheric conditions, creates a kaleidoscopic play of sensations that pleasantly overcomes us. The wonder of seeing and feeling is born of the sense of surprise. As Leopardi says: