The Nadars, a photographic legend

The Nadars

fr

Muscles of joy and loving kindness

Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne (de Boulogne), 1862

The Mechanism of Human Physiognomy, or the Electro-Physiological Analysis of the Expression of Passions pub'd. by Vve. J. Renouard (Paris), figure 32
With an atlas composed of 74 electro-physiological photographs taken for the most part between 1852 and 1856 by Dr. Duchenne de Boulogne, with the assistance of Adrien Tournachon, a.k.a. "Nadar Jne" ("Nadar the Younger"). Albumen paper prints
BnF, rare book STORAGE, 4-TB52-20
© Bibliothèque nationale de France
“The expressive difference between these face depends exclusively on a particular movement of the lower eyelid. […] The muscle that produces this texture in the lower eyelid does not obey one’s will; it can only be put into play by true affection, by an emotion that is pleasing to the soul. Its inertia, during a smile, unmasks false friends. […] Not only does it bring cheer to the eye – and in that sense, it is the counterpart to the zygomatic major, for the smile – but it also, in certain circumstances, under the influence of affectionate sentiments, contracts partially. In that case, it brings loving kindness to the gaze” (p. 62-63).