The multi-volume first edition
of the Essays on the Face by Lavater with its Fuseli designs and Blake
engravings does not contain the aphorisms nor the brilliant nonsense
of the gradations of metamorphosis between the mundane and the sublime,
from the Frog to the Apollo Belvedere. It is insidious stuff of course,
and used to stereotype races and supposed elevels of intelligence. As
a lecturer I must tell you that any audience in the momnents before the
lecture starts bears a close resemplance to the last plate shown here,
from which I conclude that frogs mingle well with the Apollos.
more
on the Temperaments |