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Part of the book: The Appearance of Character

Melissa Percival

MHRA Texts and Dissertations 47

W. S. Maney & Son Ltd for the Modern Humanities Research Association

EnlightenmentFrenchPhilosophyopen

Abstract.  The Prix Caylus, also known as the 'Prix de la tête d'expression', which was launched in 1759 at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and first successfully awarded the following year, is a crucial reference point for the debate on facial expression in the mid-eighteenth century. In what was envisaged as an opportunity to improve on their treatment of facial expression, trainee artists drew or sculpted an expressive head in a three-hour sitting with a live model who was posed by the teacher in charge to represent a particular named passion.

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