Art Institute of Chicago

Drawing: Expressions of Emotion (Hate or Jealousy, Anger, Desire, Physical Pain), 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

Le Brun’s depictions of the strongest passions offer a darker side of human emotions. In his lecture he argued that hatred and jealousy could be indistinguishable, emphasizing the livid, enflamed flesh of those caught in the thrall of these emotions, and therefore the Encyclopédie does not attempt to distinguish them. Anger adopts a similarly turbulent manifestation, with the glare of desire retaining a steely focus. Finally, the man writhing in acute pain offers a passionate reaction to a physical, rather than mental state.

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