Physiognomic Study

This engraving by Benigno Bossi exemplifies the eighteenth-century fascination with physiognomy—the belief that character and social status could be read from facial features. The exaggerated profile, sunken cheeks, and prominent nose create a distinctive character type. Bossi's line work, using fine parallel hatching typical of period engraving, creates volume and shadow to heighten the expressive distortion. Such prints descended from Hogarth's moral narratives and fed into the caricature tradition of Gillray and Rowlandson, where distorted anatomy became a language for satire. These visual conventions persisted through nineteenth-century illustrated humor into modern comics.