The smile revolution in eighteenth century Paris
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320126539
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320132403
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/320178314
about: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/330136486
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Smiling in literature
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Paris (France)--Social life and customs--18th century
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Smiling--France--Paris--History--18th century
about: DefinedTerm
  alternate name: Smiling in art
abstract: "It was only in late eighteenth century France that western civilization discovered the art of the smile. In the 'Old Regime of Teeth' which prevailed in western Europe until then, smiling was quite literally frowned upon. Individuals were fatalistic about tooth loss, and their open mouths would often have been visually repulsive. Rules of conduct dating back to antiquity disapproved of the opening of the mouth to express feelings in most social situations. Open and unrestrained smiling was associated with the impolite lower orders. In late eighteenth-century Paris, however, these age-old conventions changed, reflecting broader transformations in the way people expressed their feelings. This allowed the emergence of the modern smile par excellence: the open-mouthed smile which, while highlighting physical beauty and expressing individual identity, revealed white teeth. It was a transformation linked to changing patterns of politeness, new ideals of sensibility, shifts in styles of self-presentation--and, not least, the emergence of scientific dentistry. These changes seemed to usher in a revolution, a revolution in smiling. Yet if the French revolutionaries initially went about their business with a smile on their faces, the Reign of Terror soon wiped it off. Only in the twentieth century would the white-tooth smile re-emerge as an accepted model of self-presentation. In this entertaining, absorbing, and highly original work of cultural history, Colin Jones ranges from the history of art, literature, and culture to the history of science, medicine, and dentistry, to tell a unique and untold story about a facial expression at the heart of western civilization."--Publisher's Web site.
author: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/31057228
creator: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/31057228
language: eng
subject of: Statement
  additional type: http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300195187
  text: The old regime of teeth -- The smile of sensibility -- Cometh the dentist -- The making of a revolution -- The transient smile revolution -- Beyond the smile revolution.
temporal coverage: 1700-1800
work example: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/301253243
type: CreativeWork

PropertyValue
property ID: NL-AmRIJ
value: 253243