Figure 82: Lady Macbeth, strong expression of cruelty 1854 - 1856

Curator: It's unsettling, that stark light and the way the hair seems almost purposefully dishevelled, drawing my eye down toward that very controlled intensity of her expression. Editor: Indeed. This striking gelatin-silver print is titled "Figure 82: Lady Macbeth, strong expression of cruelty." It was created sometime between 1854 and 1856 by Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne and currently resides here at the Metropolitan Museum. Curator: Duchenne, you say? Knowing his work, I suspect that the "strong expression" is perhaps less Lady Macbeth's own than one being forcibly elicited from her through, well, unsettling methods. What is that tool above her forehead? Editor: The presence of the electrode leads to understanding the means of production. Duchenne employed electrical stimulation of facial muscles, exploring how specific contractions produced distinct emotional displays. It's about material and intervention. Curator: Right, turning the very *body* into a site of both scientific experimentation and theatrical performance, isn’t it? It raises all sorts of ethical questions about power, representation, and the manipulation of female bodies under the guise of scientific advancement in the mid-19th century. And how those anxieties find resonance today, still. Editor: But let's also note the ambition. Consider how this pushes against the Romantic vision of individualized genius, instead aligning the artist-as-scientist with emerging technological possibilities, while repurposing photographic process. Curator: It does seem he's trying to map something almost unquantifiable—emotion itself. Yet the act feels… violated, especially through our modern gaze. She isn’t so much embodying Lady Macbeth as being *subjected* to this theatrical demand. A complicated mix of spectacle and scientific quest. Editor: Ultimately, this image prompts us to confront how knowledge is produced and at what cost. It showcases an interesting cross between art, science, and spectacle to dissect emotion’s material form. Curator: I'm struck again by the contradictions it reveals. Thanks to a confluence of contexts, it’s all at once, cruel, fascinating and thought provoking, if still somewhat troubling to my sensibilities.