Centuries of portraits down the ages — and vanishingly few in which the subjects smile. Carla Passino delves into the reasons why, and discovers some fascinating answers.

My lips are sealed: no gnashers are flashed by Hals’s The Laughing Cavalier, one of the rare smiles in fine art.
Centuries of portraits down the ages — and vanishingly few in which the subjects smile. Carla Passino delves into the reasons why, and discovers some fascinating answers.