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Figure 54: Abaissement volontaire de la mâchoire inférieure: mouvement inexpressif
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Duchenne described this model, a former shoemaker, as “an old, toothless man, with a thin face, whose features, without being absolutely ugly, approached ordinary triviality.” When criticized for using such an unattractive model, Duchenne held him up as proof that “every human face could become spiritually beautiful through the accurate rendering of his or her emotions.”
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMécanisme de la physionomie humaine: Figure 54: Abaissement volontaire de la mâchoire inférieure: mouvement inexpressif, c. 1856, printed 1862. Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne) (French, 1806–1875), Adrien Tournachon (French, 1825–1903). Albumen print from glass plate negative; image: 16.4 x 12.2 cm (6 7/16 x 4 13/16 in.); paper: 22.7 x 17.3 cm (8 15/16 x 6 13/16 in.); mounted: 41.1 x 27.4 cm (16 3/16 x 10 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Trust, 2018.11
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