What's on

Physiognomy and pseudo-science


'Harmonious Owls', John Leech, 1842


Physiognomy, or the art of judging a person's character based on their outward features, had considerable impact on caricature, both serious and comic.

To many satirists, this pseudo-science was a pretension to be pilloried and George Cruikshank humorously describes this as 'Bumpology'.

The connection between man and beast, in further illustrating how physiognomy linked character, provided a particularly fruitful vein of humour. In the etching above John Leech gently plays with the comparison between men and owls.

BRUTES Humaniz'd in Alderman Turtle and Singe his wife, Mark, 1775, Etching    Harmonious Owls, John Leech, 1842, Etching    BRUTES Humaniz'd in Alderman Turtle and Singe his wife, Mark, 1775, Etching

 

    • |