Metoposcopy

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Metoposcopy

The art of interpreting character and destiny through the lines in the human forehead (Greek metopon ). It was developed by the celebrated physician, mathematician, and astrologer Jerome Cardan (1501-1576). His work, including some 800 illustrations of faces, was published in an edition edited by C. M. Laurenderio, titled Metoposcopia, libris tredecim, et octingentis Faciei humanae Eiconibus complexa: Cui accessis Melampodia de Navis Corporis Tractatus Graece et Latine nunc primum editus (Lutetiae Parisorum, 1658). Although his interpretations were confined to lines in the forehead (coupled with astrology ), his ideas were a forerunner of the physiognomy of J. K. Lavater (1741-1801).