title: The Oxford History of Classical Art
author:  John Boardman 
description: <br>"The text moves along briskly, with never a word wasted....The <em>Oxford History</em> goes straight to the point and sticks to it all the way."--<em>The New York Times Book Review</em>
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  ![img](line0.jpg)
  
  
  ### INTRODUCTION.  
  
  
  _**M**_ ANY works have
  
  
  been written on Expression, but a greater number on Physiognomy, -
  
  
  that is, on the recognition of character through the study of the
  
  
  permanent form of the features. With this latter subject I am not
  
  
  here concerned. The older treatises,[1] which I have
  
  
  consulted, have been of little or no service to me. The famous
  
  
  `Conferences'[2] of the painter Le Brun, published
  
  
  in 1667, is the best known ancient work, and contains some good
  
  
  remarks. Another somewhat old essay, namely, the `Discours,'
  
  
  delivered 1774-1782, by the well-known Dutch anatomist
  
  
  Camper,[3] can hardly be considered as having made
  
  
  any marked advance in the subject. The following works, on the
  
  
  contrary, deserve the fullest consideration.
  
  
  Sir Charles Bell, so illustrious for his discoveries
  
  
  in physiology, published in 1806 the first edition, and in
  
  
  [1] J. Parsons, in his paper in the
  
  
  Appendix 