Overview of eyelid anatomy Anatomically complex, the eyelids consist of an anterior layer of skin and orbicularis oculi muscle, and a posterior layer of tarsus and conjunctiva . Contraction of the orbicularis muscle, innervated by the seventh cranial nerve, closes the eyelids. The levator muscle, innervated by the third cranial nerve, and the sympathetically innervated Müller's muscle raise the upper lid.