Jan 26, 2018
Jan 26, 2018

Figure 7: Étude du méchanisme et de l'expression du muscle frontal chez un vieillard: à droit, attention; à gauche, repos

Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine

Figure 7: Étude du méchanisme et de l'expression du muscle frontal chez un vieillard: à droit, attention; à gauche, repos

c. 1856, printed 1862

Albumen print from glass plate negative

Image: 16.2 x 11.9 cm (6 3/8 x 4 11/16 in.); Paper: 23.5 x 17.9 cm (9 1/4 x 7 1/16 in.); Mounted: 41.2 x 27.4 cm (16 1/4 x 10 13/16 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Trust 2018.8

Location

Did you know?

Duchenne, a neurologist at a hospital for the poor in Paris, turned to photography to record the grammar of human expression.

Description

Duchenne embarked on the first scientific, systematic exploration of the physiology of human facial expression and hoped, through photographs of his experiments, to teach artists how to portray those emotions. The experiments were performed by applying electrical stimulation to a single muscle on one side of the face, so that the viewer could clearly see the impact of the muscular contraction.

See also

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