Disentangling beauty and attractiveness in art portraits: Differential links to quantitative image properties

Abstract

Art portraits convey two related yet distinct hedonic values: beauty of the image and attractiveness of the person depicted. This study explored how these values relate to objective properties. Three hundred participants rated 192 art portraits (Baroque, Impressionism, Expressionism) on beauty and attractiveness. Quantitative image properties (QIPs) were analyzed using the QIP toolbox. Beauty and attractiveness ratings were highly correlated, yet regression analyses showed that beauty ratings were linked to style and distinct QIPs (mainly self-similarity and mirror symmetry), whereas attractiveness ratings were characterized by style and a diffuse pattern of weak QIP contributions. These findings suggest that while both ratings are perceptually distinct in art portraits, only beauty judgments are systematically related to self-similarity and symmetry.