Ozias Leduc's Phrenology

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Ozias Leduc (1864-1955), born in Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, was one of the province’s early and major painters and was best known for his work decorating churches, notably the Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation church in Shawinigan South. Along with the religious works he executed, he was also a painter of portraits, still lives and landscapes. As well, he was a poet and has illustrated many literary works. In his paintings were beautiful lines combined with poetry to create scenes where ancient and modern elements blend gently . Leduc was self-taught and his work was often associated with symbolism. Many of his artworks represented many layers of meaning , and deep analysis brought up interesting facts about his beliefs and values. One example of such painting is Phrenology, which was executed in 1892 and is a still-life depiction of what seems to be an artist's workplace. Phrenology is an interesting painting to analyze as it presents many different elements and layers. It depicts, at first sight, the sculpture of a head, or a bust. Visible on its forehead are numbers inscribed within lines that segment the cranium of the sculpture into multiple areas. On its base, the word PHRENOLOGY, namesake of the painting, can be read. This directly references the science of phrenology, which was founded by German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) at the beginning of the 19th century and is today considered a pseudo-science. Phrenology was the analysis of the features of the human skull. By studying the shape of the skull and its various bumps, phrenologists believed that they were able to determine an individual’s characteristics such as personality and morality traits. You could, for example, possess a "bump for mathematics, or a bump for viciousness" . This science is of course today seen as absurd and not accepted by mainstream academia. It is however interesting to note

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