How We’d Look If Humans Evolved From Different Animals. This Is Fascinating
A French artist used pseudoscience to explore the relationship between human and animal faces.
Charles
Le Brun (1619-1690) was a celebrated French artist who King Louis XIV
declared "the greatest French artist of all time." While he may have
been a fine artist, he was no scientist.Le
Brun subscribed to belief in physiognomy, which literally means
"knowledge of nature." The basic idea was that you could look at
someone's physical features and know about their personality.
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For
instance, St. Paul was often painted with a large forehead to symbolize
his studious nature. That is to say, a large forehead implied a large
(and presumably well-functioning) brain.
Le
Brun explored physiognomy in a new way, by comparing facial features of
people to animals. Here are some selections from his series. Suffice to
say, there is no scientific validity to physiognomy, but the drawings
are still fun to look at.Rabbits
have a mixed history as far as symbolism goes. Due to their ability to
procreate quickly, they are associated with virility, fertility, and
sexual desire.Their
appearance in the spring also led to them being associated with
rebirth. This association is what allowed a seemingly unrelated bunny to
become part of the Easter holiday.Rabbits
are also highly symbolic of prey. In fact, they are an archetypical
prey animal that has few defenses other than the ability to procreate
quickly. Someone with the features of a rabbit could be thought of as
easy to exploit or take advantage of.
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With
one look at the man with a boar's features, and we can tell it's not a
flattering comparison. While people use the homonym "boor" to refer to
someone with bad manners, being compared to a boar is not much better,Wild
boars are extremely destructive and dangerous. Like the domestic pig,
boars are capable of eating vast quantities of crops or other food. On
the other hand, a boar's great strength and appetite did lead to it
being respected by many in Medieval times. Killing a boar was a highly
prized achievement and many warriors engraved their shields and helmets
with boars.
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Le
Brun's illustrations came out about a century before Charles Darwin and
Alfred Russell Wallace introduced the world to evolution. Even before
the close relationship between man and monkey was discovered, people
noticed the similarity.Many
artists used monkeys as symbols of men beholden to their earthly
desires. Also, instead of viewing monkeys as smart mammals, many saw
them as dumber versions of humans. This led to the term "to ape" meaning
simply to copy someone else's actions without understanding them.
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As
helpful as donkeys have been to humankind, we don't have many positive
stereotypes of them. Lazy, stupid, and stubborn are the adjectives most
often associated with this beast of burden.Throughout
cultures worldwide, donkeys are viewed as stupid and obstinate.
Needless to say, having a facial structure similar to a donkey wasn't
viewed as a positive by physiognomists.
Foxes have a much more positive if somewhat mixed reputation. They have traditionally been seen as clever and cunning.In
many medieval stories, foxes trick others to get what they want. They
seldom get punished for their misdeeds and are seen as something to
avoid lest they trick you too.
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