Icono-photographique. Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine. Fig. 65

Art Historical Context

In the mid-19th century, physician Guillaume-Benjaminmand Duchenne de Boune pioneered the scientific study of human emotions through facial expressions. Collaborating with photographer Adrien Tournachonbrother of the famed Nadar), Duchenne created this *Icono-photographique. Mécanisme de la Physomie Humaine. Fig 65* between 1854 and 1856, printed in 1862 as anen silver print from a negative. This small yet striking image (12.0 x 9.2 cm) captures a man's face contorted in fear, one of dozens documenting electrically stimulated muscle contractions to reveal the "mechanism" of physiognomy. Duchenne's work, published in his influential 1862 book of the same name, bridged medicine, psychology, and early photography. By using faradic currents on patients—often without anesthesia—he isolated pure expressions, influencing Charles Darwin's *The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals* (1872). This photograph exemplifies how the new medium of photography lent unprecedented precision to scientific observation, transforming subjective emotions into objective visual data. Today, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this piece highlights photography's dual role as art and science. Its intimate scale invites viewers to ponder the universality of fear, a raw human response frozen in silver tones, reminding us how 19th-century innovation still shapes our understanding of the face as a window to the soul.

About the Artist

Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne|Adrien Tournachon (French|French) · 1806 |1825 –1875 |1903

French, 1806–1875|French, 1825–1903