Aspects of Facial Esthetics and Disfigurement

We first give an overview over the fundamentals of visual perception and the evolutionary biology of beauty and disfigurement. Visual perception is focused on structures rich in contrast; this is why facial landmarks are usually defined by these structures. By further processes, attention is focused on the Yarbus triangle. Evolutionary biology has revealed several mechanisms influencing morphogenesis. To explain the development of facial features based on a simple chain of causation is therefore problematic. The last part of this chapter will summarize special aspects such as symmetry and proportion with special respect to the edges of the Yarbus triangle, eyes and mouth.