Le Ris (from Caractères des passions, gravés sur les desseins de l'illustre Monsieur le Brun)

Art Historical Context

**Le Ris (Laughter)**, an exquisite etching from the series *Caractères des passions (Characters of the Passions), captures the raw intensity of human emotion through a man's contorted, joyous face. Created by engraver Sébastien Le Clerc Younger after designs by the illustrious Charles Le Brun between 1695 and 1720, this petite print (just under 3 by 6 inches) exemplifies the era's fascination with facial expressions windows to the soul. Le Brun, Louis XIV's premier painter and head of the Royal Academy, drew from Renaissance theories of physiognomy to systematically depict passions like laughter, anger, and despair, influencing art, theater, and even early psychology. Etched with fine precision, Le Clerc's technique translates Le Brun's dynamic sketches into intricate lines that convey laughter's physical distortions—wide-open mouth, crinkled eyes, and furrowed brow—making the emotion leap off the page. Produced during France's grand siècle, these prints served both artistic and educational purposes, training artists and actors in authentic expression amid the opulent court culture at Versailles. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (thanks to the 1953 Harris Brisbane Dick Fund), *Le Ris* reminds us how 17th-century innovators like Le Brun bridged art and science, turning fleeting feelings into timeless studies of humanity. A delightful glimpse into the anatomy of joy!

About the Artist

Sébastien Le Clerc, le Jeune|Charles Le Brun (French|French) · 1676 |1619 –1763 |1690

French, Paris 1676–1763 Gobelins|French, Paris 1619–1690 Paris