In Praise of the Nose
More than any other physical feature, the nose sparks in us a permanent interest and fascination.
Our language is rife with nose references that we all have heard and used, in colloquial expressions such as “winning by a nose”, "It's right under your nose", being a "nosy" person, “keep your nose clean” (stay out of trouble), having a nose in a book (being an avid reader), or being “snooty”.
Fixed in the midst of our faces, our noses are not the natural center of attention that eyes and mouth are. However, the nose is our most prominent facial feature, and its shape is quite unique in the animal kingdom.
While having air vents is essential in all creatures for breathing, most animals have either flat noses or a total absence of it (in the case of birds, aquatic life, and insects).
Mammals developed the most distinguishable noses; but even among them, few stand out from the skull, as in the case of the elephant, the aardvark, the tapir, the long-nosed bandicoot, the echidna, and most notably, the proboscis monkey.
However, among all animals, humans have the most diverse and characteristic noses of them all.
Our noses developed to carry scents into smell sensors while trapping dust, pollen, seeds, and small insects. But the evolutionary process also developed the nose bridge and nasal cavities in order to amplify the resonance of our voices.
Unlike our other facial features, the nose is mainly made of cartilage and skin.
Forensic archeologists who recreate human faces from bare bones, restore the noses based on the possibilities given by age, race, sex, estimated thickness of skin, and other factors. But, unlike other facial features, they are never entirely certain that the recreated appendix is the actual nose.
Although there are many types of noses, each nose is as individual as fingerprints. Not two noses are entirely equal, not even in identical twins.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Short, long, flat or prominent, wide or narrow, there are as many noses as there are faces in the world.
The definite shape of a nose is only achieved in adulthood. And since their construction is mostly cartilage and skin, the nose (as well as the ears) never ceases to grow.
This is the reason why elderly people have long ears and noses.
Throughout millennia, the nose acquired cultural and social significance, and is often seen as a symbol of power, energy, determination, courage, and virility.
Almost as important as opposable thumbs, the nose is what makes our face human, and losing it –in battle, as punishment, or due to an accident- is still considered a terrible disgrace.
Cutting the nose of fallen enemies was a common mutilation since ancient times up to the Renaissance, and equaled to a castration, a humiliation of the highest class.
In this same line, the destruction of the nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza is also considered an insult and a humiliation to the pharaohs, and to the culture of Ancient Egypt.
One of the most famous ‘noseless’ characters in history was Tycho Brahe, the Danish Astronomer who lost his nasal appendix in a sword duel. However, true to his bigger than life character, Brahe had made a prosthetics ‘golden nose’ to replace it, becoming as famous as the great man himself.
Noses possess social relevance and have multiple associations in cultures around the world.
In Japan, the supernatural being Tengu is depicted with a prominent red nose or beak-like mouth, and it’s thought to be the reincarnation of someone who was proud and arrogant in their past life. Interestingly, Tengu are believed to be skilled swordsmen, just like Cyrano de Bergerac.
The Inuit tribes in the Arctic circle could often only expose their eyes and nose due to the harsh cold environment, and thus devised the so-called “Inuit kiss” or kunik, the nose rub that became a form of expressing affection.
During the first contact between East and West, the term "Big Nose" was used in China to refer to Westerners, due to their comparatively longer noses than those of Asian heritage. However, the term is now considered offensive and is in disuse.
In India, nose piercing in women has a special significance, as it declares womanhood, honors the Hindu goddess of marriage, Parvathi, and a and it’s considered a coming-of-age ritual.
Most physiognomists categorize noses in nine main types - Roman (aquiline), Greek, straight, straight and pointy, broad and flat, tucked up, with a downward point, bony, and bony with fleshy point -, based on the shapes of each part, assigning to each nose different characteristics meant to reveal traits of our personality.
"A large nose is the mark of a witty, courageous, affable,
generous and liberal man."
- Cyrano de Bergerac.
But, beyond physiognomy, certain cultural traits have been traditionally associated to noses through the ages.
"The nose makes the face", declared a noted aesthetician. And while this may or may not be true, one thing is certain: the nose seems to announce and denounce our character.
Reportedly, Napoleon Bonaparte once declared: “whenever I want someone to do a fine and spectacular job, I always choose the man with the biggest nose.”
Big noses are commonly associated to big, successful personalities. And while this is not always the case, it is nonetheless true that those endowed with a big nose must learn to develop an equally big personality in order to carry it with grace.
Some big-nosed personalities, like Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante and Sarah Bernhard (to name only a few), made fun of their big noses, and in the process became famous exploiting it for comedy’s sake. Other famous "noses" in this group include Milton Berle, Oona O'Connor, and Bob Hope.
At the height of his fame, Jimmy Durante even insured his nose for a considerable sum, a veritable testament of its importance for the comedian’s career.
While large noses are normally well-accepted in men, small noses have been preferred in women across cultures, assigning it a signification of innocence and sexual continence.
However, physiognomists are less kind in their assessment, seeing in small adult noses a tendency to laziness, indecision, and foolishness.
Chinese physiognomy attributes to round nose tips and fleshy nostrils (“the nose of Buddha”) qualities such as abundance and happiness, while it associates thin, bony noses with poverty and want.
However, there are sufficient examples all around the world to refute all these beliefs, which comes to show that physiognomy is more a cultural convention than an exact science.
Although small noses are generally preferred in women, “important” noses can also add a touch of distinction and nobility to feminine faces.
In fact, since ancient times prominent noses have been associated with aristocracy, conferring to those who have them an air of importance and uniqueness.
For centuries, crooked noses have been associated to mean, criminal characters, a convention that may or may not be true, but which certainly inspired artist Chester Gould in the creation of his most famous comic strip, Dick Tracy.
Having a unique nose imprints an air of singularity to its owner. Thus, whether physiognomy attributes it leadership qualities or not, it’s not unlikely that people with big noses end up becoming successful in one way or another.
Some other personalities with “important” and unique noses include: Aubrey Beardsley, Richard Nixon, Barbra Streisand, Ringo Starr, Pete Townshend, Dustin Hoffman, Celia Cruz, André Leon Talley, Michael Jackson, Liam Neeson, Tom Cruise, Gerard Depardieu, and Owen Wilson.
Many famous noses have made their way into history and literature, due to the unique character of their nasal appendixes, and the bigger than life personality of their owners.
Among them we have Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. He acquired his characteristic profile when, during a joust, he lost an eye and part of his nose bridge.
Despite the mutilation, he was able to continue breathing, and he made his deformity his trademark.
Since then, generations of children have grown up fearing that their noses would grow if they didn't tell the truth.
And how to forget the immortal satirical sonnet by Francisco de Quevedo, “To a man with a big nose”, dedicated to his poet rival, Luis de Góngora:
Once upon a man to a nose pasted,
once upon a nose superlative,
once upon a half-alive alembic,
once upon a sword-fish badly bearded.
It was a gnomon of sun ill-faced,
once upon an elephant face-up,
once upon a nose large-coat and scribe,
one Ovidius Naso badly nosed.
Once upon the striker of a galley,
once upon an Egypt's pyramid,
the twelve tribes of noses was it.
Once upon a very-nosy infinite,
friesian archi-nose, cover-up,
humongous chilblain murrey and irk.
In the satirical short story “The Nose”, Russian writer Nikolai Gogol threaded a funny and surrealistic tale of a civil servant whose nose disappears one night and gains a life of its own, pushing him on a long and desperate race around the city before it finally returns to his face.
A similar but kinder story was developed by animator Tilmann Vogt in his student short "Snout", in which the little piggy 'Sniff' awakes one morning to find that his snout is gone.
Video: Tilmann Vogt - Snout (4:31)
But perhaps the most famous of all big nose stories is Cyrano de Bergerac, the witty swashbuckling hero of famously big nose in Edmond Rostand's namesake novel, developed in multiple versions for the big screen.
Red noses have long been associated with humor, from the Bavarian Jokili to the traditional Punch character from the Punch and Judy shows.
But it was in the late XIX century when it became the characteristic feature of clowns in Western circus, and since then it represents slapstick humor.
Based on this imagery, the British organization Comic Relief created in 1988 the Red Nose Day, an annual fundraising campaign to help fund programs against child poverty, and ensure health, safety, and education for children.
For centuries, noses were accepted, praised, laughed at, or talked about. But the advent of plastic surgery in the XX century awoke a veritable obsession for the 'perfect nose'.
In this era of selfies and TikTok videos, no one seems to be content with their noses, and everyone seems to have an 'ideal nose' in mind.
Rhinoplasty, or the correction of the nose through surgery, is the third most common plastic surgery in the United States, and fifth in the world. And yet, doctors also consider it one of the most complex procedures in plastic surgery.
Growing interest in physical appearance has led to an increased demand for rhinoplasty, and according to a Plastic Surgery Statistics Report, this demand is only expected to grow.
The problem is that patients are growing younger every year, opting for surgical procedures when their noses haven’t fully developed, and without seriously weighing the consequences of what can be a potentially risky procedure.
“A big nose never spoiled
a handsome face”
- French proverb
Frederick Nietzsche once declared that “all my genius is in my nostrils”; and legend has it that, upon meeting a young Rudolph Nureyev, a famous choreographer declared that 'he has the nostrils of genius", due to his flared nostrils of Tatar heritage.
Nureyev himself had the personal saying “follow your own nose” when it came to making decisions.
Rudolph Nureyev, photo by Jack Mitchell
Big or small, long or short, flat or protuberant, the nose has an importance we can’t hide or ignore.
Whether we like it or not, our nose forms part of our appearance, sends signals to the world about our character, and in some cases, ends up shaping our lives.
And even if your nose is less pleasing than what you’d like, it’s always better to have a ‘nose with character’ than no nose at all.
Sources: "El Arte de leer los Rostros” by Richard Webster, 2012. Wikipedia, Grand View research, NCBI.
Cover image: John Singer Sargent, “Portrait of Madame X”, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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