The text discusses the depiction of emotions and states of despair through bodily gestures, using a historical examination of posture and expression in art. It describes how a person in despair might be imagined in art, with details on posture, facial expression, and attire. The section ends by comparing genuine sadness to depicted states of despair.
The Human Figures, &c.
Impassioned actions? Regarding a courageous action that has not yet turned into an act of revenge, it was often seen that one arm is held stiffly beside the body, and the other with the hand on the chest, but the fists tightly clenched; as if in that silence he is contemplating in his mind how and on whom he might vent his anger with his fists.
An action of a desperate or despairing person can be most vividly depicted by an image that seems to be taking its life with some wicked or unusual tool; for that expresses the accident better than any ordinary weapon or tool. His clothes, in impatience, must be torn violently into shreds; or if already torn, he must scratch open his body and inflict serious wounds. The legs uncertain and somewhat spread, not firmly supporting him; and constantly bent, as if he no longer cared about his legs or the pain of placing them under him. Thus, the body, as if like a drunken man, must sink to the earth. Or if he sits, he must present himself not as seated, but as thrown down. The hair must be untidy and matted, slung around the head. The face should appear vacant and without any lively or merry expression. Although he should not painfully appear over his grief or wounds, because he suffers such voluntarily, and that way seems to lessen it. All in such a manner that one sees more genuine sadness in the face of the weeping and repentant Peter, than in the despairing one.