Accession No

6510

Brief Description

plaster phrenological head (bust) of Pierre-Francois Lacenaire (1803-1836), known as the poet assassin, attributed to James de Ville, French, c. 1836

Origin

France

Maker

de Ville, James [attributed]

Class

biology; physiology; demonstration

Earliest Date

1836

Latest Date

1836

Inscription Date

Material

Plaster

Dimensions

height 330mm; breadth 185mm; depth 205mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Christie’s South Kensington, 85 Old Brompton Road, London, SW7 3LD. Lot 54, Travel, Science and Natural History, 06/04/2011.

Inscription

Lascenaire (in pencil on front of bust plinth)

Description Notes

Plaster phrenological head (bust), 'Pierre-Francois Lacenaire', attributed to James de Ville, French, c. 1836.

Condition good; complete

References

Events

Description
Phrenology held that the shape of the skull mapped the configuration of the brain, and that head shape could therefore be directly related to personality traits. The convicted murderer Lacenaire was executed by guillotine in France in 1836, and a plaster copy made of his head for study by phrenologists. His trial made him something of a popular hero as a handsome and romantic villain, but phrenologists pointed out the prominent areas of his skull in places which represented destructiveness (above the right ear), acquisitiveness and vanity. Several versions of the original model were made, and were often used by lecturers as visual proof of the truth of phrenological science.
02/04/2013
Created by: label written for UL loan exhibition on 02/04/2013

FM:47019