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Chapter 17 - Aesthetic electrophysiological studies on the mechanism of human facial expression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2010

G. -B. Duchenne de Boulogne
Edited and translated by
R. Andrew Cuthbertson
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Summary

Plates 74, 75, 76, 77, 78

The faces of the aesthetic section will at first sight seem like mere grimaces to those without the key to my experiments. Thus I repeat that the isolated electrical contraction of the muscles that produce the different expressions on each side of a face can in fact only display a grimace, if we look at both sides of the face simultaneously. Therefore, as I indicate in the captions, care will be taken to cover this or that part of each of these faces, while we look at the opposite side; in this way we will see the expression of the face depicted completely, often becoming quite beautiful.

Plate 74: Portrait of a young woman in repose, following which the various expressions in Plates 75, 76, 77, and 78 were photographed.

Plate 75: General view: nun saying her prayers, with resigned suffering at left, and with only sadness at right. A sorrowful prayer, but with resignation by covering the eye, eyebrow, and forehead of the right side; a somewhat sad prayer, by covering the same parts of the left side.

The head alone: a painful or sorrowful memory, by covering the eye and forehead of the left side; a somewhat sad memory, by covering the same parts of the opposite side. […]

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The Mechanism of Human Facial Expression , pp. 104 - 113
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1990

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