Phrenology chart. Phrenology is a pseudo-science that states that a person's personality and character can be deduced by studying the shape of his or her skull. Certain areas of the skull are thought to be linked to specific characteristics. This chart shows pictures associated with different faculties over the area of the skull with which they are supposedly connected. For instance along the top of the head from left to right are depicted the characteristics of 'benevolence', 'veneration' and 'firmness'. The theory of phrenology was proposed by the German physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828). Published in Picture Magazine in 1894.