
4 0 c m
33cm
actual image size: 25cm x 32cm
Description
Barry (1759-1822) graduated as a doctor before becoming curate at St Marylebone, where he became one of London's most popular preachers. He wrote several books on religion, ethics and science, including his eight volume 'Guide to the Human Species' (1811). This phrenological plaster head, one of a series, was made between 1823 and 1850. Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) proposed that the contours of the skull followed the brain's shape, with each region responsible for an aspect of personality or behaviour. Feeling the lumps was like reading the mind. He called his system organology, but it later became known as phrenology, derived from the Greek word 'phren' for mind.
Image Details
Image Ref.
10314005
© Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library