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Figure 45: Contraction électrique forte des triangulaires des lèvres et des sourciliers: douleur et déspoir
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMécanisme de la physionomie humaine: Figure 45: Contraction électrique forte des triangulaires des lèvres et des sourciliers: douleur et déspoir, 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: 23.5 x 17.9 cm (9 1/4 x 7 1/16 in.); oval opening: 16.2 x 11.9 cm (6 3/8 x 4 11/16 in.); mounted: 41.2 x 27.4 cm (16 1/4 x 10 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2018.7
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