Preliminary Sketch for Plate 4 of ‘Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy’ 1828

Editor: This is John Varley's ‘Preliminary Sketch for Plate 4 of ‘Treatise on Zodiacal Physiognomy’’. It feels like an early draft, figuring out how to portray different facial features. What's striking about this work to you? Curator: It's interesting to consider this as a product of its time. Physiognomy, the idea that you could read character from facial features, was surprisingly popular then. How did this pseudo-science influence social perceptions and even art production? Editor: So you're saying Varley wasn't just sketching faces; he was participating in a broader cultural trend of judging people by their looks? Curator: Exactly. And that has implications for how we view portraiture and even caricature from this period. Did this 'science' reinforce existing biases? Editor: I never thought about art being shaped by something like physiognomy. It definitely gives me a new perspective. Curator: It's a reminder that art rarely exists in a vacuum.