Drawing: Expressions of Emotion (Laughter, Weeping, Compassion, Sadness), from Encyclopédie
1762/77
Medium
Etching with engraving on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 31.7 × 20.6 cm (12 1/2 × 8 1/8 in.); Plate: 35 × 22.5 cm (13 13/16 × 8 7/8 in.); Sheet: 40 × 26 cm (15 3/4 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
148254
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Le Brun’s most active expressions appear at the top of this sheet. His lecture linked the states of laughter and weeping, suggesting that with the exception of laughter’s exposed teeth, they should be drawn in nearly the same way. Sadness, a purer expression than the first two, appears at the bottom right as a “disagreeable languor of the soul.” The compassionate youth at left appears equally subdued by his contemplation of this tragic state.
About the Artist
A. J. Defehrt · 1708–1779
A. J. Defehrt (1723–1779) was a French draftsman, painter, and engraver whose career is best defined by his substantial contributions to one of the most ambitious publishing projects of the European Enlightenment: the illustrated plates of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. This monumental project, which aimed t...