Based on a selection of Adam Mickiewicz's texts representing various poetic genres, this article explores the visual code used in his descriptions of the faces of some of his notable character pairs. The selection includes poems like 'Warcaby' (Draughts) and 'Sen: Z Lorda Byrona' (A Dream: From Lord Byron), the ballad 'Ucieczka' (A Flight) and the narrative poem 'Grazyna'. The questions we ask are as follows: Which traits recur in the character portraits? Does their marked use depend primarily on sex-related appropriateness, or do they function as indicators of some moral or emotional qualities which allow each character to play his or her part in the story? The close examination of the descriptions of Mickiewicz's sample character pairs is expected to pave the way for raising the issue of a facial description code that was typical of the Romantic character portrayal.