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Electro–Physiologie, Figure 64

1854–56, printed 1862
Not on view
In compiling a scientific treatise to aid artists, the physiologist Duchenne de Boulogne used electrical stimulation of the facial muscles to elicit expressions of the principal emotions. Wanting his transcriptions to be exact, he collaborated with Adrien Tournachon (brother of the famous Nadar), a photographer who specialized in portraiture. From the negatives they made together in 1854, Adrien produced a single set of carefully crafted prints that the doctor mounted in a large album (now École des Beaux-Arts, Paris). Later, on his own, Duchenne copied and cropped the images to create illustrations for his book Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine; ou, Analyse électro-physiologique de l’expression des passions applicable à la pratique des arts plastiques (1862). In the volume, Duchenne wrote that the subject of this image seems terrified of the idea of imminent death or torture: “This expression must be that of the damned.”

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Electro–Physiologie, Figure 64
  • Artist: Adrien Tournachon (French, 1825–1903)
  • Artist: Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne (French, 1806–1875)
  • Date: 1854–56, printed 1862
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
  • Dimensions: Image: 29.8 x 22.3 cm (11 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.)
    Mount: 40.1 x 28.5 cm (15 13/16 x 11 1/4 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Buddy Taub Foundation Gift, Dennis A. Roach and Jill Roach, Directors, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.140
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine ou Analyse électro-physiologique de l’expression des passions applicable à la pratique des arts plastiques, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne French, Albumen silver prints from glass negatives
Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine ou Analyse électro-physiologique de l’expression des passions applicable à la pratique des arts plastiques
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne
Adrien Tournachon
1854–56, printed 1862
Icono-photographique. Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine. Fig. 65, Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne French, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Icono-photographique. Mécanisme de la Physionomie Humaine. Fig. 65
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne
Adrien Tournachon
1854–56, printed 1862
Pascaline, Adrien Tournachon French, Salted paper print or albumen print
Pascaline
Adrien Tournachon
ca. 1855–60
[Bull from Glane, Canton of Fribourg], Adrien Tournachon French, Salted paper print from glass negative
[Bull from Glane, Canton of Fribourg]
Adrien Tournachon
1856
Lefrisé
Adrien Tournachon
1860

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