Italian eyes: iris color, shape and epicanthic fold in 79 observed portraits
Italian: iris color Brown in 56% of 36; eye shape Almond in 59% of 79; upper eyelid crease type Double, medium (~6-9mm) in 91% of 66; epicanthic fold Absent in 99% of 69; palpebral fissure slant Slight downslant in 56% of 79; eyebrow shape Soft arch in 73% of 79.
Catalog portraits for Italian are AI-generated adult subjects; the measurements on this page come from documented photographs of real people, not from these images.
Iris color
n = 36 assessable · 43 not assessablePredominant color of the iris. Heterochromia is captured as its own value; mixed colors (e.g. hazel, blue-green) get distinct buckets.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BrownMedium to dark brown iris; visible iris detail. | 56% | 20 | |
| HazelMixed brown and green/gold; central iris differs in color from peripheral iris (central heterochromia). | 14% | 5 | |
| Very dark brown / black-appearingIris appears nearly black under typical lighting; high melanin content. Common in East Asian, South Asian, Sub-Saharan African, and indigenous populations. | 8% | 3 | |
| BlueTrue blue; highest frequency in Northern European populations, decreases southward. | 6% | 2 | |
| Light brownLighter brown with visible warmth; sometimes called amber when more golden. | 6% | 2 | |
| Blue-greenMixed blue and green with neither dominant. | 6% | 2 | |
| GrayGray to gray-blue iris; lower stromal melanin than blue. | 3% | 1 | |
| dark brown | 3% | 1 |
Vocabulary: Iris color (iris_color_qualitative)
Eye shape
n = 79 assessableOverall shape of the visible eye, considering the silhouette of the upper and lower lid margins together. Independent dimension from eyelid_crease_type and epicanthic_fold, which capture finer morphological variation.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlmondSlightly elongated horizontal axis; mild taper at lateral and medial canthi. Considered the aesthetic reference shape. | 59% | 47 | |
| Deep-setEye sits deep within the orbital socket; pronounced shadow above the upper lid. Brow ridge typically prominent. | 35% | 28 | |
| HoodedUpper lid skin descends over the lid crease, partially or fully covering the upper lid platform. Often associated with periorbital aging but can be constitutional. | 4% | 3 | |
| RoundVertical and horizontal axes approximately equal; minimal canthal taper. Visible sclera above and below the iris. | 1% | 1 |
Vocabulary: Eye shape (eye_shape_qualitative)
Upper eyelid crease type
n = 66 assessableMorphology of the upper eyelid supratarsal crease. The single most ethnically-variant periocular dimension. The Asian-ophthalmology / Asian-blepharoplasty literature provides the canonical classification system, distinguishing several functional and aesthetic patterns.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Double, medium (~6-9mm)Mid-position crease; common reference range for European-population eyelids. | 91% | 60 | |
| Double, low (~3-5mm above lash line)Crease present but sits low on the lid, close to the lash line. Common in East Asian populations with double lids. | 9% | 6 |
Vocabulary: Upper eyelid crease type (mccurdy_chen_eyelid_crease)
Epicanthic fold
n = 69 assessablePresence and morphology of the epicanthic fold — the skin fold of the upper eyelid that may cover the medial canthus. Significant ethnic variation; high prevalence in East Asian, Central Asian, and indigenous American populations.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AbsentNo epicanthic fold; medial canthus clearly visible. | 99% | 68 | |
| Partial / residualSubtle fold residue; medial canthus partially obscured but not fully covered. Can be developmental remnant or post-blepharoplasty result. | 1% | 1 |
Vocabulary: Epicanthic fold (duke_elder_epicanthus_classification)
Palpebral fissure slant
n = 79 assessableAngle of the palpebral fissure axis (line from medial to lateral canthus) relative to horizontal. Significant ethnic variation; East Asian populations average steeper upslant than European populations.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slight downslantLateral canthus slightly below medial; visible fatigue or aging appearance. | 56% | 44 | |
| Slight upslantLateral canthus slightly higher than medial; ~5-10° above horizontal. Within the European aesthetic reference range. | 30% | 24 | |
| HorizontalLateral canthus at the same level as medial canthus; axis approximately 0°. | 14% | 11 |
Vocabulary: Palpebral fissure slant (fissure_axis_qualitative)
Eyebrow shape
n = 79 assessableOverall arch and shape of the eyebrow as visible in the photograph.
| Value | Share | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft archGentle, gradual arch; arch peak in the lateral two-thirds. | 73% | 58 | |
| Flat / descendingNo arch; brow descends laterally toward the temple. | 19% | 15 | |
| High archPronounced arch with a clear peak; stronger lateral-tail descent. | 6% | 5 | |
| StraightMinimal arch; nearly horizontal brow line. | 1% | 1 |
Vocabulary: Eyebrow shape (eyebrow_shape_qualitative)
Where these numbers come from
80 publicly documented portraits of notable Italian people were assessed by a vision model against the full 22-vocabulary schema, one value per dimension. Values are what the photographs show, read by a model, not population measurements. Each table counts only portraits where the value could be assessed; covered, obscured and unclear portraits are reported separately.
Notable-people corpora skew older, so hair color over-represents gray and white, and image quality varies. Treat shares as a description of this sample.
These rows are not yet in the published catalog dataset, which currently carries the earlier single-row analysis; see the methodology. A family page exists only when at least 10 portraits carry an assessable value.