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13 Sept 08
Notes on faces and men National Portrait Gallery
Shakespeare1 looks quite exceptional, quite unenglish. Jacques-Pierre2.
In general people's appearance does not show that they are anything, even less what they are.
Most of all kings and nobles look somewhat similar, but their finery may have much to do with
that. It plays a much smaller part in old portraits, one was not ashamed at that time of one's
characteristic ugliness. Of course one has to take the painter into consideration. In some pictures
easy to see how he spoils a face.
The great heroes often have children's faces, as Nelson3 & Wolfe4. The real heroic appearances,
those that evoke the Zeus of Phidias are artists, Lord Leighton5, Tennyson6, Bulwer7. Actors
somehow lack independence. Least of all can be seen in the faces of great doctors and natural
scientists, only Darwin8 has a gloriously idiosyncratic physiognomy, but not that of a research
scientist. Philosophers are mostly emaciated, the abstract is visible. Locke9, even Newton10.
Only in one face Sydney Smith11 does humour form the content both of the features as also of the
life & the work. Matras12. Fox13 has an unbelievably mean physiognomy. Pitt14 a real king's
face, more like a king than the Georges15, something like Emperor Joseph - Castlereagh16 the
great resemblance to the young Bonaparte.
All portrait number references marked by # in the footnotes are from: National Portrait Gallery: Complete
Illustrated Catalogue, compiled by K.K. Yung; edited by Mary Pettman (London: National Portrait Gallery,
1981). Where there are several possibilities, what seem the less likely numbers are set in square brackets.
1 National Portrait Gallery Catalogue Number #1 unknown artist, the "Chandos Portrait" of William Shakespeare
(1564-1616).
2 Jacques-Pierre, fanciful source of Shakespeare’s name, given to Freud “by a very erudite old gentleman, Prof.
Gentilli, who now lives in Nervi.” (see Freud-Jones 31.10.1909).
3 Horatio Nelson, Viscount (1758-1805) Vice-Admiral; victor of Trafalgar. #394 by Lemuel Francis Abbott; #785 by
L. Acquarone after Leonardo Guzzardi; #73 by Friedrich Heinrich Füger; #879 by Henry Edridge. (#785 likeliest
"child’s face"?).
4 James Wolfe (1727-59) General; conqueror of Quebec.#48 by J.S.C. Schaak [# 688; #713a; #1111. (All except #1111
"children’s faces")]
5 Frederick Leighton, Baron (1830-96) Painter and PRA. #1049 by G.F. Watts.
6 Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron (1809-92) Poet Laureate. #1015 by G.F. Watts.
7 Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron (1803-73) Novelist. #1277. But this painting by Henry William Pickersgill does not
match Freud's description of it as heroic. That would fit the G.F. Watts portrait of the novelist's son and namesake
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831-91) Viceroy of India. #1007.
8 Charles Robert Darwin (1809-82) Naturalist, discoverer of theory of evolution. #1024, a striking ¾ length portrait
against a dark background, by John Collier.
9 John Locke (1632-1704) Philosopher. #114 by Michael Dahl; #550, after Sir Godfrey Kneller.
10 Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Mathematical scientist. #558 attributed to John Vanderbank.
11 Sydney Smith (1771-1845) Wit and Canon of St Paul's. #1475 by Henry Perronet Briggs.
12 This word, "Matras" [?], appears to have been added either after "work" or "physiognomy". Josef Matras (18321882) was a Viennese actor and comedian. In 1879 he became insane and died in an asylum. If his name was indeed
intended, it might have been added as an afterthought to the remarks about Sydney Smith.
13 Charles James Fox (1749-1806) Whig statesman. #743 by Karl Anton Hickel, who also did #745, a group portrait of
the House of Commons, including Fox (see following note).
14 William Pitt (1759-1806) Prime Minister. #135a; #120 [bust]; #1240 [bust]. Pitt and Fox appear together with the
rest of the House of Commons in the group portrait #745 by Karl Anton Hickel - "William Pitt addressing the House of
Commons on the French declaration of war, 1793". However the resemblance to Emperor Joseph is more applicable to
Pitt’s father, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-78), especially to #259 (after Richard Brompton).
15 Refers to George I, George II, George III and George IV, who between them reigned over Great Britain from 1714 to
1830. There were at least ten images of them in the gallery.
16 Lord Castlereagh (Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry) (1769-1822) Statesman. #891 by Sir Thomas
Lawrence. [#1141; #891; #316a].
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William III17 clever and perverse like Walter Fürst18. Conspicuous the beauty of some generals:
Marlborough19. Nobles have the best faces.
It is natural that people's appearance only shows the degree of their gross sublimation:
philosophers, clergy, not doctors and scholars who may gain gross satisfaction in their work.
Face is race, family and constitutional predisposition, of which only the last factor is interesting,
actually mostly raw material, there is too little in it of experience, least of all of choice of career.
Seems that hero and conqueror natures must frequently content themself with becoming writers
and artists because they find no way free.
Born writers seem to be those who remained childish: Goldsmith20, Shelley21.
- Mill22 & Pope23 animated clergymen's faces - asexual The famous women plain on principle.
- The Europ. types obviously recur everywhere. Lord Leighton = very similar to KrafftEbing24.
- Only humour betrays itself in the features, seems constitutional.
Scholars and scientists so frequently completely insignificant.
Shakespeare is a typical head like Homer - Gomperz25 - Em. Loewy26 - Hartel27 - Socrates.
Some people look completely original, only like themselves.
Nicholas Bacon28 is a brutally jovial acromegalic.
Byron29 obviously dressed himself up.
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William III (1650-1702) King of England 1689-1702. #580 after William Wissing (?); #1026, unknown artist.
Walter Fürst. Not known. (The best known Walter Fürst is fictional, a character in Schiller's Wilhelm Tell. If this
were the case, Freud would presumably be referring to some painting or representation of the character.)
19 John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) Soldier and statesman. #501 perhaps by John Closterman after
John Riley; #553 after Sir Godfrey Kneller; #902 by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
20 Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74) Writer. #130 by studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds; #828 after Sir Joshua Reynolds.
21 Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Poet. #1234 by Amelia Curran; [#1271 by Alfred Clint after Amelia Curran.]
22 John Stuart Mill (1806-73) Social philosopher. #1009 by G.F. Watts. As concerns the description "asexuell", already
in a letter to Martha Bernays of 26 July 1883 Freud had written: "All in all this is one respect in which one simply
cannot consider Mill human. His autobiography is so prudish or so other-worldly that you could never find out from it
that people are divided into men and women and that this difference is the most significant one there is between them."
23 Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Poet. #112 by Charles Jervas; #1179 attributed to Jonathon Richardson; #561 attributed
to Jonathon Richardson; #299 by William Hoare; #873 by William Hoare.
24 Richard Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902). Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry, University of Vienna, author of
Psychopathia sexualis.
25 Theodor Gomperz (1832-1912). Eminent classical philologist, author of Griechische Denker – eine Geschichte der
antiken Philosophie. In 1879 Freud had translated some articles by John Stuart Mill for Gomperz’s edition of his work
and he was personally acquainted with Gomperz, his wife Elise whom he treated, and his son Heinrich.
26 Emanuel Löwy (1857-1938). Professor of Archaeology at the University of Rome. A lifelong friend of Sigmund
Freud, he advised Freud on his collection of antiquities. One of Löwy’s pupils, Sir Ernst Gombrich, alluded to his
similarity to Socrates (Brein, 1998 p.63).
27 Wilhelm Ritter von Hartel (1839-1907). Eminent philologist, formerly Rector Magnificus of Vienna University and
Director of the Hofbibliothek. From 1900 to 1905 Minister of Education.
28 Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509-79) Lord Keeper of the Great Seal; father of Francis Bacon. #164, unknown artist.
29 George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron (1788-1824) Poet. Evident reference to #142, portrait by Thomas Philips, in which
Byron is ostentatiously dressed up in Albanian costume and headgear.
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