Physiognomy are irascible". The principal promoter of physiognomy in modern times was the Swiss pastor Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) who was briefly a friend of Goethe. Lavater's essays on physiognomy were first published in German in 1772 and gained great popularity. These influential essays were translated into French and English. Lavater found 'confirmation' of his ideas from the English physician-philosopher Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682), and the Italian Giambattista Della Porta (1535–1615). Browne in his "Religio Medici" (1643) discusses the possibility of the discernment of inner qualities from the outer appearance of the face, thus: He reaffirmed his physiognomic beliefs in "Christian
Physiognomy The popularity of physiognomy grew throughout the last quarter of the 18th century and into the 19th century. It was discussed seriously by academics, who believed in its potential. Many European novelists used physiognomy in the descriptions of their characters. notably Balzac, Chaucer and portrait artists, such as Joseph Ducreux. A host of 19th-century English authors were influenced by the idea, notably evident in the detailed physiognomic descriptions of characters in the novels of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and Charlotte Brontë. In addition to Thomas Browne, other literary authors associated with Norwich who made physiognomical observations in their writings include