Portrait Parle
Definition
Bertillon's standardised verbal description system for recording physical features of a person, including face shape, ear structure, eye colour, and build. It was the template for the police description protocols used throughout the 20th century.
- Creator
- Alphonse Bertillon
- Content
- Face shape, ear structure, eye colour, build
- Format
- Standardised verbal description
- Legacy
- Template for 20th-century police description protocols
Common questions
How does portrait parle differ from Bertillon's anthropometric measurements?+
Bertillonage recorded precise numeric body measurements, while portrait parle was a standardised verbal vocabulary for describing facial and physical features qualitatively, meant to let officers in different locations describe the same suspect consistently.
Why did portrait parle fall out of use?+
It was gradually superseded by fingerprint classification and, later, standardised photography, both of which offered more objective and searchable identification than a verbal description.
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