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Secondary sourcePaintingc. 1736

Portrait of Voltaire after Maurice Quentin de La Tour

After Maurice Quentin de La Tour · c. 1736

A pastel-style portrait of a young Voltaire, copied after an original by Maurice Quentin de La Tour.

A copy of an early portrait showing Voltaire as a young man.

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Close-up detail of a pastel-style portrait of a man with powdered grey curled hair, smiling slightly, wearing a white cravat and a gold-trimmed garment against a dark background with a blue area at right.
After Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait of Voltaire, c. 1736.

About this source

What it is

This is a portrait of Voltaire made after an original by the pastel artist Maurice Quentin de La Tour, dating from around 1736, showing him in his younger years with powdered curled hair and fine dress.

Why it matters

Because it is a copy made after La Tour's original rather than the original itself, it shows how popular images of famous figures like Voltaire were reproduced and circulated. It gives a sense of how Voltaire was presented to the public in his thirties, well before his later fame as an elderly philosopher.

Look closer

  • How does this image of a young, smiling Voltaire compare with other portraits of him in old age?
  • Why might copies of a popular portrait have been made, and what does that tell us about his fame?
  • What does his clothing and expression suggest about how he wanted to be seen?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Voltaire on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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