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Around the time of their first exhibition in 1874, the Impressionists were often lauded for their ability to “seize” and “fix” an impression in paint. In contrast to most twentieth-century interpretations of the style that favored the variety and fluidity heralded by impressionist representation, earlier critics instead valued its penchant for arresting and stopping the flow of life. When seen in the context of other period means to capture sensations and impressions as image – such as kymographs and other scientific instruments invented for the registration of bodily phenomena, as well as the camera – such phrasing begins to reveal its period implications. Expressions like “seizing” and “fixing” impressions partook in a broad image culture that, like Impressionism itself, grappled with the creative means for giving the senses an instantaneous pictorial shape, turning them from mere physical occurrence to symbolic figuration.