Art Institute of Chicago

Drawing: Expressions of Emotion (Wonder, Love, Veneration, Rapture), from Encyclopédie

A. J. Defehrt (French, active 18th century)

Date

1762/77

Medium

Etching with engraving on cream laid paper

Culture

France

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

The French Academy president Charles Le Brun’s famous lecture on the subject of facial expressions likely took place in two sessions, on April 7 and May 5, 1668. He assimilated many textual sources, including Descartes, but it was the series of drawings he produced to illustrate the different expressions that had the most impact. These images were copied incessantly, but some difficulty remains in identifying them, especially for a modern audience. This sheet from the 1777 Encyclopédie uses Le Brun’s images of the stages of love from astonishment to rapture.

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