After the publication of his provocative Lettres philosophiques in 1734, Voltaire was forced to leave Paris and took refuge at Cirey, the château of his lover and collaborator, Émilie du Châtelet (1706–1749). On 2 March 1735, he received official permission to return to the capital.1 Once back in Paris, he sat in April for a series of portrait sessions with the pastellist Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704–1788), who was then still largely unknown.
The commission marked a turning point in La Tour’s career. At the time, he had not yet been admitted to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture,2 had therefore never exhibited at the Salon, and had produced only a handful of works.3 Securing a sitting with one of France’s most celebrated literary figures was thus a major opportunity4 – one that would ultimately propel La Tour to prominence as one of the leading portraitists of eighteenth-century Europe.
While La Tour’s motivation is clear, Voltaire’s decision to sit for an as yet obscure young artist is more difficult to explain. Several hypotheses have been proposed. Louis Richter speculated5 that the two may have met in London, where La Tour is believed to have stayed from 1725 to 1727,6 overlapping with Voltaire’s residence there from 1726 to 1728.7 Christine Debrie and Xavier Salmon have suggested they may instead have been introduced in the salon of Alexandre Jean Joseph Le Riche de La Popelinière (1693–1762),8 which La Tour is known to have frequented.9 Hervé Cabezas, meanwhile, has noted that in 1735, La Tour was living at the hôtel Jabach, 42 rue Saint-Merri, just around the corner from the cloître Saint-Merri, home of Voltaire’s Parisian agent, Abbé Moussinot (d. 1771).10 These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive (in fact, several may be true simultaneously), but whatever the exact circumstances, Voltaire’s decision to sit for La Tour appears incidental, reflecting his generally careless attitude toward all matters relating to the visual arts.
Préparations and the Final Pastel (1735–1737)
Though the sittings of April 1735 are poorly documented,11 La Tour’s method is well known and allows for a partial reconstruction of his working process. He typically met his sitters for several sessions focused exclusively on the face, producing multiple preparatory studies (préparations) that explored different angles and expressions. These studies were usually executed in black and white, although, when time allowed, La Tour occasionally added colour to capture complexion and distinctive facial features.12 From these various options, the most suitable pose and expression was selected for the final portrait, often in consultation with the sitter.13 The finished work was executed on one or more sheets of paper mounted on canvas stretched over a frame.14 Once completed, La Tour frequently produced copies, either for the commissioner or for his own use.15
The final version of Voltaire’s portrait has been lost, but two préparations survive. The first, held at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm,16 shows Voltaire en face, smiling. It depicts only his face, without wig or accessories, but includes colour, capturing a pinkish skin tone, dark red lips, and deep brown eyes. The second, acquired by the Musée Antoine-Lécuyer in Saint-Quentin in 1995,17 is almost monochromatic, with only subtle touches of colour on the skin, lips, and eyes. Here Voltaire appears in three-quarter profile, wearing a tightly tied cravat, jabot, justacorps, and long cascading wig – elements that would be retained in the final portrait, which we know through numerous copies.
It is clear that the Saint-Quentin préparation was ultimately chosen over the Stockholm one as the model for the final work (VI47). Xavier Salmon has suggested that La Tour may have sought to distinguish his portrait from that of Nicolas de Largillière (1656–1746) (VI7), which also presented Voltaire en face.18 But it is equally plausible that the dynamic three-quarter turn, later reused by La Tour in one of his most famous self-portraits,19 simply struck him as more compelling.
This angle also allowed for the inclusion of an accessory: in the final portrait (VI47), Voltaire is shown with his right hand on his hip and his left hand holding an open book.20 In the later oil copy now at Versailles, the visible page reads “Chant V”, 21 identifying the book as La Henriade.22 In all other known painted and engraved copies, the pages are left blank. It remains uncertain, therefore, whether the original pastel explicitly identified the book. This is not improbable, given that La Tour would do so repeatedly in later works, most notably in his elaborate full-length portrait of Madame de Pompadour,23 which also features a copy of La Henriade.
Whether or not the book was specified, its inclusion clearly signals Voltaire’s literary identity. While some later portraits would depict him writing at his desk [], this image, and the Rossets’ statuette (VI57) clearly inspired by it, remain, somewhat surprisingly, the only portraits to present him explicitly as a public author, no doubt contributing to their enduring success.
Before returning to Cirey, Voltaire wrote to La Tour requesting another sitting, lamenting, “Am I to leave before you have finished?”24 In reality, he would wait over a year to receive a préparation,25 and even longer for the final pastel.26
Several factors likely contributed to this delay. As Xavier Salmon has noted, between April 1735 and October 1736, La Tour had to vacate his lodgings at the hôtel Jabach to move in with his brother Charles at the corner of Rue Saint-Honoré and Rue Jean-Saint-Denis. Then, on 25 October 1736, the death of his father prompted a trip to Picardie. On 25 May 1737, he applied for provisional admission (agrément) to the Académie royale,27 which required considerable time and focus. Finally, given the importance of the commission, it is likely that La Tour simply took the time necessary to be fully satisfied with the result.28
On 17 November 1736, when Voltaire finally received the préparation (almost certainly the Musée Antoine-Lécuyer pastel) he wrote to Moussinot:
I wish it were a bit more thickly painted and more vivid in color. Could you have a few copies made that are a bit more lively?29
Voltaire’s comment suggests that he failed to recognise the préparationfor what it was – a preliminary study focused on pose and expression, not a finished work (hence its nearly monochromatic palette and lightly sketched costume).
Engravings (1735–38)
Despite the final work not yet being completed and despite his dissatisfaction with the intermediate outcome, Voltaire was already arranging for reproductions. In a letter dated 12 April 1736, he instructed Moussinot to commission two copies to serve as models for further engravings and objects:
Many thanks, my dear correspondent. First have two good copies made, after which we will make others. But here is what I would like: that the first copy be made with all the skill and expertise of the copyist, so that it can serve as the original for the others. As soon as this first copy is done, I would ask you to have it examined and retouched by La Tour.30
The copy Voltaire requested be executed “with all the skill and expertise of the copyist” (“avec tout le savoir faire et toute l'habileté de la copiste”) and then retouched by La Tour is most likely31 the pastel now in the collection of the Château de Ferney (VI47).32 That Voltaire specifies the artist’s gender and expresses confidence in her ability implies prior arrangement.33 It is a shame that we do not know her name.
On 17 November, Voltaire followed with a letter requesting “two (or four small) prints of my little face”,34 intended as gifts for friends. By 16 December, La Tour’s pastel had already been handed over to an engraver. On Voltaire’s behalf, Mme du Châtelet instructed Moussinot to send her the four engravings: “three in quarto, and one in duodecimo, mounted with gilded borders”. 35 As Hervé Cabezas has noted,36 the in-quarto print was likely the rare large-format engraving now in the N2 collection at the Bibliothèque nationale (VI245). This print bears the Latin inscription [ attributed to Mme du Châtelet:
Post genitis hic carus erit, nunc carus amicis
(“He will be dear to future generations, now he is dear to friends”)
A fitting dedication, indeed, for a portrait intended as a gift for friends.
Around the same time, another set of engravings (VI272) was produced, one of which would be used as the frontispiece for the new edition of La Henriade, published by Laurent-François Prault (1712–1780) in 1737.37 These engravings were executed by Jean Baptiste Guélard and published by Michel Odieuvre (1687–1756). Voltaire had first learnt about Odieuvre in 1735, after seeing an announcement for an engraved portrait of himself by Pierre Dupin after Jean-Étienne Liotard (VI321) that Odieuvre had published.38 This plausibly prompted a collaboration with Odieuvre on the engraving after La Tour.
The result, however, failed to please him. On 24 May 1737, Voltaire wrote to Moussinot:
I am eagerly awaiting the pastel by La Tour, […] the engraving made from this pastel is horrid and wretched, no offense to the engraver, but I care little. I am not arguing in favour of my own face.39
And again, on 8 July:
People speak quite badly of Gueulard’s prints. Couldn’t I be made a little less ugly?40
In 1738, La Tour’s pastel was engraved once again – this time by Jacob Folkema (1692–1767) for the Amsterdam edition of the Éléments de la philosophie de Newton41 (VI246). Folkema most certainly worked from Guélard’s earlier engraving rather than directly from La Tour’s pastel. Whether disappointed with Folkema’s version, still dissatisfied with Guélard’s frontispiece for Prault’s edition of La Henriade, or both, Voltaire sent a warning to Prault, who was also responsible for the French edition of the Éléments, via Moussinot:
I beg you to strongly recommend to him [Prault] that he have that bad engraving retouched. Let La Tour choose.42
And again, via Berger:
I never had the vanity to be engraved, but since Odiœuvre and others have disfigured Monsieur de La Tour’s work, that must be remedied. The plate must be in octavo, because that is the format of the books in which my reveries are printed. Abbé Moussinot took it upon himself to find a new engraver; I will write to him; I know the merit of the man being proposed.43
To ensure that La Tour’s pastel was faithfully translated into print this time, Voltaire, somewhat naively, decided to involve the artist himself in the process. He stressed that this was necessary “not for the honor of my face, but for the honor of the brush of that charming painter.”44 In another letter, he added:
The engraver must obey the painter, just as the printer obeys the author. If the Dutch animals that printed my Elements of Newton had been more docile, that work would not be full of printing errors. I remain an apostle of Newton, but I fear I may be sowing seeds on sterile ground.45
He followed up with more specific instructions:
Regarding the print, I believe it should be entrusted to Odiœuvre, since he covered the initial costs. He will be in charge of the engraver, working under the painter’s eyes. I shall give the engraver one hundred francs on my part. Odiœuvre will cover the rest and keep the plate, and I will have some prints for my friends. I thought Monsieur de La Tour had a duplicate original. What, then, did he do with the first pastel? Because I only have the second. In any event, I am sending what I have, to Abbé Moussinot’s address. Please convey my compliments to the painter who made me look good and whom the engravers have disfigured.46
This letter reveals that, by July 1738, the pastels had circulated so extensively that Voltaire had lost track of how many versions existed and where they were. It also suggests that, alongside the frontispiece, additional copies were once again intended for distribution among friends, and that the new engraving, “corrected” under La Tour’s supervision,47 was to be published, again, by Odieuvre.
On 18 August, however, Voltaire reassigned responsibility for the engraving to Prault, writing:
My dear Abbé, if it is true that Praut is willing to take on my portrait, the painting must be given to him.48
A similar reshuffling occurred with the engravers. Initially, Moussinot had promised the task to Étienne Fessard (1714–1777),49 but in August, Fessard learnt from La Tour that the commission had been reassigned, prompting him to write a long, emotional letter to Voltaire.50
Voltaire responded on September 2 in a letter to Moussinot:
An engraver named Fessard has just written to me. I would just as soon have him do my engraving as anyone else. Send him to Prault and let them sort it out between them.51
Ultimately, Prault’s edition of the Éléments de la philosophie de Newton appeared with the same 1736 engraving by Guélard, reversed and with the face only lightly retouched.52 Who carried out the retouching remains unknown, and it is unclear whether the entire effort to revise the image had any meaningful effect. The edition reached the market in early August 1738,53 yet more than two months later, on 22 October, Voltaire was still writing to La Tour:
I like to think that you are willing to guide the engraver who is making my print based on your pastel54
– suggesting that the engraving was still in progress. This raises further questions about whether any of the proposed revisions were implemented in time. It is likely that the frontispiece was printed and inserted by Prault after the book had already gone to press.
Still, by 1741, Voltaire does not appear to have been satisfied by any of the prints. On 20 June of that year, perhaps in relation to Prault’s 1741 re-edition of the Éléments, he wrote to Moussinot:
I beg you to have a print engraved of La Tour’s portrait that is a bit less coarse than that of our drunkard.55
Significantly, all engravings produced between 1736 and 1738 show Voltaire without hands, the bust truncated at shoulder level. This suggests they were based on the Musée Antoine Lécuyer préparation, rather than the final portrait.56
Rings (1736–37 and 1741) and Seals (1738–39)
In parallel with preparations for the first engravings in 1736, Voltaire also arranged for a miniature portrait to be painted, intended for a ring to be given to Mme du Châtelet.57 By November, the choice of the artist had been made:
They say there is a man in Paris who makes miniature portraits for rings in a perfect manner. I saw a portrait of Louis XV done by him that was very true to life. You may find it presumptuous that the same hand should paint both the king and poor little me, but it is desired, and I obey. So please be kind enough to track down this man. On my behalf, send someone to inquire where he lives, to Monsieur the Chevalier de Villefort, at the residence of Monseigneur the Comte de Clermont, prince of the blood.58
The artist in question was the miniaturist Philippe Penel fils (1690–1756).59 Voltaire’s comment, “It is desired, and I obey”, suggests that the idea to commission Penel came from Mme du Châtelet’s herself.60 This is confirmed by her own letter to Moussinot, sent a month later on Voltaire’s behalf:
He [Voltaire] told me as he was leaving that he would ask you to send me his portrait in pastel once the engraver has finished with it. I beg you to do so as well, and to allow it to be copied in miniature (for a ring) by a miniature painter whom Monsieur the Chevalier de Villefort will send to you on my behalf for this purpose.61
By 30 March 1737, the miniature appears to have been completed, and steps were being taken to have the ring made.62
In July 1738, Voltaire had another idea: to have La Tour’s portrait engraved onto seals, to be gifted to friends and admirers.63 To carry out this project, Voltaire turned to François-Julien Barier (1684–1746), graveur du roi en pierres fines:64
A large physics cabinet and a few horse purchases have emptied my purse and have made me unworthy of the stone that represents Newton. I will settle for his works for a pistole. I would rather, truth be told, buy that head than have mine engraved, and I am ashamed of the preference I give myself, but I am being forced into it.
My friends, who admire Newton but who love me, want to have me. So please be kind enough to go see Mr. Barier with Mr. de La Tour. I am entrusting it to you and to him.
Please seal your letters with my face.
The stone must be a little larger than usual, but smaller than that Newton, which is a kind of medallion. They do not want to send my portrait in pastel, but Mr. de La Tour has a duplicate. All that’s needed is to have it framed and glazed. I am asking Abbé Moussinot to cover the cost.65
The context of the letter suggests that Voltaire already knew Barier and, more interestingly, owned an intaglio portrait of Newton by him. As with earlier correspondence regarding the ring (which he repeatedly attributed to Mme du Châtelet’s initiative) and the prints (which he insisted were made only because his friends demanded),66 here too Voltaire stressed that the project was not his idea, but rather something being forced upon him by others.67 One such individual appears to have been François Thomas Marie de Baculard d’Arnaud (1718–1805), a young protégé of Voltaire, to whom he wrote a year later:
If I could get out in the mornings, I would go to Barrier’s for that ugly portrait on a ring. If I gathered the actors together, I would convince them to let my friend in – someone who one day will bring many people to their performances. I am sending the portrait of Madame du Châtelet; it’s better to have that than mine. I am also sending a theatre ticket, although I have already given twelve. Since everyone absolutely insists on having that engraved stone, they will have it, no doubt. I beg your pardon that the day has only 24 hours.68
On 17 February 1741, Mme du Châtelet wrote another letter to Moussinot that sheds light on the further history of both the ring and the seals:
I thank you very much, Monsieur, for the lovely commission you were kind enough to send me. I am very pleased with it, and I imagine that half an hour spent during our next trip to Paris, retouching it from life, will make it as perfect as a profile can be.
I hope that now that you have the portrait, you will kindly arrange for the miniature for my ring to be made. I leave the choice of painter to you, and I will not find it expensive, whatever it may cost, if it is truly lifelike. But I beg you not to let the face be too large in proportion to the setting, and to have it set in the ring with a small glass so that it cannot fall out again.
I also ask you to have half a dozen copies made of the one by Barier: three in green, and three like the model you sent, which is very good. Send them to me unmounted, along with the ring, via a means I will indicate to you.69
This letter is revealing in multiple respects. First, it suggests that Barier’s seals were also mounted in rings – a detail that helps explain the context behind Voltaire’s poem À une dame à qui l’auteur envoyait une bague où son portrait était gravé, dedicated to Mme du Châtelet.70 Given that Voltaire had initially planned to produce a dozen, and then Mme du Châtelet now requested six more, it is puzzling that none survive to this day (even as impressions in sealing wax). Second, the letter clarifies that the original miniature, painted by Penel in 1737, had fallen out of its setting, prompting the creation of a new portrait and a more secure ring (“qu'il ne puisse plus tomber”).
This new ring would be central to a melodramatic episode following Mme du Châtelet’s death on 10 September 1749. In his Mémoires, Voltaire’s secretary, Sebastian G. Longchamp (1718–1793), recounts how during an attempt to conceal the ring’s contents from Châtelet’s husband, it was discovered that portrait it held was no longer Voltaire’s but that of her more recent lover, Jean François de Saint-Lambert (1716–1803):
When she died, Madame la Marquise de Boufflers had rushed into the room along with the other members of her household. As she was leaving, she called me aside and whispered in my ear to check whether Madame du Châtelet still had on her finger a carnelian ring surrounded by small diamonds; if it was still there, I was to take it and keep it until further instructions.
I found the ring and placed it in a small box I had in my pocket, informing the chief lady-in-waiting, who was present, of what Madame de Boufflers had instructed me to do. The next day, Madame de Boufflers summoned me; I went to her immediately and handed her the small box containing the ring. M. de Saint-Lambert was there. She opened the box in his presence and, showing him the ring – which he knew well – she lifted the bezel, which had a hidden compartment, and with a pin she drew out from beneath it a portrait of M. de Saint-Lambert, which she gave to him. She then returned the ring to me, instructing me to deliver it, along with other items, to M. le Marquis du Châtelet. I carried out this commission the following morning.
Two or three days later, once M. de Voltaire had regained some composure, he remembered that his own portrait had once been concealed beneath the bezel of that same ring, and he assumed it was still there. He told me to find out whether the ring had remained with the chief lady-in-waiting; if she showed it to me, I was to open it by a method he explained, remove the portrait, and bring it back to him. I then told him that the ring he spoke of had been handed over by me personally to M. le Marquis du Châtelet, having been taken from Madame his wife's finger immediately after her death, following the instructions I had received from Madame de Boufflers – but that his portrait was no longer beneath the bezel.
‘How do you know that?’ he asked.
I truthfully recounted what had happened at Madame de Boufflers' residence in the presence of M. de Saint-Lambert.
‘Heavens!’ he exclaimed, raising and clasping his hands, ‘such are women! I took out Richelieu, and now Saint-Lambert has expelled me. So it goes – one nail drives out another. Such is the way of the world!’71
For our purposes here, the dramatic turn of events is less curious than the description of the ring provided by Longchamp. In this, new, version, the miniature portrait was securely mounted so as to prevent it from falling out of the bezel. The setting, described as “de cornaline entourée de petits brillans”, suggests the involvement of Barier, who specialised in engraved carnelian. 72 The identity of the artist responsible for the miniature, however, remains unknown.
Painted Copy for the Académie française (1757–58)
In 1757, the Académie française contacted Voltaire to request a portrait for their gallery of members. Voltaire proposed that a copy be made after a reproduction of La Tour’s pastel that was in the possession of his niece, Marie-Elisabeth Dompierre de Fontaine (1715–1771), the younger sister of Mme Denis:
There is an old portrait after La Tour at my niece de Fontaine’s. She must have a copy made of that smoked herring, but she is currently with her lover and her turkeys at her estate and won’t return until this winter. You will then have my gaunt figure. D’Alembert had taken charge of this important negotiation with her.73
The resulting copy (effectively a copy of a copy) was completed in June 1758 by a local artist and was, by all accounts, of embarrassingly poor quality – so much so that both Mme Denis and Voltaire felt compelled to apologise for it. Mme Denis wrote:
We sent you a portrait for which I sincerely ask your pardon. Put it up in the attic. It reached you much against my will. I feared you would judge our country by this sample. Fortunately, Liotard, the painter you saw dressed as a Turk in Paris, has retired to Geneva, his homeland, and will paint my uncle next week. My sister will take the portrait and have oil copies made in Paris. This man captures likeness wonderfully. I hope you will recognise your friend once he is rendered by his hand.74
Voltaire added:
I will add just a little more about my pitiful appearance. I swear to you that I am as ugly as my portrait. Believe me. The painter is not very good, I admit, but he is not a flatterer. Have a copy made, my dear angel, for the academy. After all, what does it matter whether the image of a poor devil who will soon be dust is accurate or not? Portraits are an illusion, like everything else. The original will love you very tenderly as long as he lives.75
Why was Fontaine’s copy reproduced in Geneva rather than simply transported to Paris to be copied there? Perhaps her version was a pastel, and Voltaire feared it might be damaged in transit. Or perhaps the initial intention was to send the locally made copy as the final work, but its quality turned out to be so disappointing that Voltaire requested it serve only as the basis for a better version. In the end, whether copied in Paris or not, the portrait was never added to the Academy’s collection. It would only be after Voltaire’s death that his likeness joined the gallery, when Mme Denis donated a copy after the Largillière portrait.
Conclusion
During Voltaire’s lifetime, La Tour’s pastel portrait became his official likeness. Reproduced more than 50 times in the eighteenth century,76 it remains, to this day, one of his best known and immediately recognisable representations. All the more ironic, then, that the original pastel has been lost. Or, perhaps, rather than ironic, Benjaminian.
From the outset, La Tour’s pastel was conceived for replication. By 1735, Voltaire had only been painted once, by Largillière (VI7), and lacked an image suitable for frontispieces, gifts for friends, and other copies. As early as July 1736, even before the final version of the pastel had been completed, Voltaire was already urging Moussinot:
“Have you retrieved my portrait? Have you had the copies started? Will you have it engraved?” 77
Executed in a delicate medium, and no doubt with all the finesse of La Tour’s technique, the pastel was not intended as a work in itself but as a prototype.78 Seen in this light, its eventual disappearance seems less surprising: it had fulfilled its function.
The choice of both the medium and the artist also reflects Voltaire’s somewhat naïve, intuitive approach to the visual arts. To create his official portrait, he selected a then barely known artist and, despite planning for extensive reproduction, a fragile, non-portable medium. One can only imagine the damage sustained by the original and its préparations as they were repeatedly transported and handled in the process of copying.
The same naivety extended to the reproduction process. It was highly unorthodox of Voltaire to task a pastellist with overseeing the production of engravings and even seals. Moreover, unlike many of his contemporaries, La Tour showed little interest in reproducing his work.79
Yet this unlikely and intensive collaboration, which spanned four years from 1735 to 1738, proved remarkably fruitful for both men. It launched La Tour’s highly successful career,80 and provided Voltaire with a definitive likeness,81the most widely reproduced one in his time.
D848, Letter from René Hérault to Voltaire, 2 March 1735.He would become a provisional member on 25 May 1737 and a full member on 24 September 1746. Anatole de Montaiglon (ed.), Procès-verbaux de l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, Paris: Baur, 1875–1892, 10 vol., vol. 5, p. 205https://archive.org/details/procsverbauxde05acaduoft/page/204/mode/2up and vol. 6, pp. 35-36https://archive.org/details/procsverbauxde06acaduoft/page/34/mode/2up.We know of only one pastel portrait La Tour had executed by that point – that of Charles Cardin Richer de Roddes de la Morlière (1681–1736), engraved by François Bernard Lépicié (1698–1755) in 1734 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, SP.347https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1068422/charles-richer-de-roddeu-de-etching-and-engraving-maurice-quentin-de/).Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: le voleur d’âmes [exh. cat. Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, 14 September – 12 December 2004], Versailles: Artlys, 2004, p. 167.Louis M. Richter, “Voltaire, Painted by La Tour”, The Connoisseur 54 (1919), pp. 204-210, here p. 204https://archive.org/details/connoisseurillus54lond/page/204/mode/2up?q=richter.This journey is hardly documented at all, and it is unclear how long La Tour really spent in England. Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: le voleur d’âmes [exh. cat. Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, 14 September – 12 December 2004], Versailles: Artlys, 2004, p. 66.René Pomeau, Voltaire en son temps, Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1995, vol. 1, pp. 165-202.Christine Debrie and Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour, prince des pastellistes, Paris: Somogy, 2000, pp. 177-179, here p. 32; Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, pp. 107, 109.Voltaire met La Popelinière through his friend, Nicolas-Claude Thieriot (to whom we will repeatedly come back below). La Popelinière’s mistress and future wife, Thérèse Boutinon des Hayes (1714–1756), in turn, introduced Voltaire to Rameau. OCV, vol. 6A, p. 619.Hervé Cabezas, “Voltaire, ses portraits, par Maurice-Quentin de La Tour et Joseph Rosset, leur reproduction, au Musée Antoine Lécuyer de Saint-Quentin”, Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français(2009), pp. 175-211, here pp. 177-178.From that time, we have two letters from Voltaire to La Tour and envelope inscribed “A Monsieur / Monsieur de la Tour, peintre en / pastel / a l'hotel jabac rue st mery / a Paris”: D861, Letter from Voltaire to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, April 1735; D862, Letter from Voltaire to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, April 1735; Nicholas Cronk and Paul LeClerc, “La correspondence de Voltaire dans les collections de la New York Public Library”, Revue d’histoire littéraire de La France 112, no. 3 (2012), pp. 653-692, here 691.An extensive collection of La Tour’s préparationsis now housed at the Musée Antoine-Lécuyer in his hometown of Saint-Quentin.The different stages of La Tour’s working method are described in Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: le voleur d’âmes[exh. cat. Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, 14 September – 12 December 2004], Versailles: Artlys, 2004, p. 83.Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, p. 229.Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: le voleur d’âmes[exh. cat. Musée national des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, 14 September – 12 December 2004], Versailles: Artlys, 2004, pp. 84-85.1735, pastel on paper, 26.5 x 18 cm, NMB 1946https://collection.nationalmuseum.se/en/collection/item/25891/. Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, J.46.3121.1735, pastel on paper, 36 x 28.5 cm, 1995.6,1https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/07930000373. Neil Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, J.46.3116.Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, p. 117.Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Self-Portrait with Frill, c. 1750, pastel on paper, Musée de Picardie, Amiens, MP 226https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Quentin_de_La_Tour#/media/File:Autoportrait_de_La_Tour.jpg.Based on two letters in which Voltaire praises the now-lost portrait of Thieriot holding La Henriade, Hervé Cabezas suggests that the idea of being depicted with a book in hand may have come from Voltaire himself. However, this seems highly speculative. D902, Letter from Voltaire to Nicolas Claude Thieriot, 24 August 1735 and D903, Letter from Voltaire to M. Berger, 24 August 1735. Hervé Cabezas, “Voltaire, ses portraits, par Maurice-Quentin de La Tour et Joseph Rosset, leur reproduction, au Musée Antoine Lécuyer de Saint-Quentin”, Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français(2009), pp. 175-211, here p. 179.18th century, oil on canvas, 61.5 x 50.5 cm, Château de Versailles, Versailles, MV 6101https://collections.chateauversailles.fr?queryid=985296aa-80c9-4e1f-a8e7-53fe2fcabcae.Neil Jeffares contends that Voltaire is depicted holding a book in-12° format. Neil Jeffares, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, London: Anagallis Books, 2022, p. 239https://www.pastellists.com/Misc/Jeffares_LaTour_2022ed.pdf. While duodecimo editions of La Henriade (24a and 24b) did exist, they were produced without Voltaire’s authorisation. The principal editions of La Ligue (23a) and La Henriade (28a) appeared in octavo and in quarto formats respectively. However, this does not necessarily preclude the possibility that La Tour chose to depict a generic duodecimo book as La Henriade.Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Portrait en pied de la marquise de Pompadour, 1752–55, pastel on paper, 177.5 x 131 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris, INV 27614, Rectohttps://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl020213445. For a full list of La Tour’s portraits with a book as an accessory, see Neil Jeffares, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, London: Anagallis Books, 2022, p. 41https://www.pastellists.com/Misc/Jeffares_LaTour_2022ed.pdf.“Partirai-je donc sans que vous ayez fini? Donnez moy donc un rendez vous. Voyez à quelle heure vous voulez que j'aille chez vous.” D861, Letter from Voltaire to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, April 1735.I agree with Cabezas and Salmon that the portrait Voltaire received on 17 November 1736 was a préparation and not the final pastel and that it almost certainly was the Musée Antoine-Lécuyer work. Hervé Cabezas, “Voltaire, ses portraits, par Maurice-Quentin de La Tour et Joseph Rosset, leur reproduction, au Musée Antoine Lécuyer de Saint-Quentin”, Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français(2009), pp. 180-181; Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, p. 112.A low-quality oil copy of the final pastel, held at the Musée Antoine Lécuyer (oil on canvas, 62 x 51 cm, 1983.7.33https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/07930000372), is inscribed “Donné par Voltaire à Mme de Champbonin en 1737”, suggesting that the final pastel was likely completed between 1736 and 1737.
Voltaire’s impatience grew, and over the course of two years he would inquire about the portrait as many as eight times: D1058, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 12 April 1736; D1066, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 20 April 1736; D1084, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 7 June 1736; D1115, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 16 July 1736; D1118, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 30 July 1736; D1138, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 31 August 1736; D1299, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot,18 March 1737; D1329, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 24 May 1737.Neil Jeffares makes a compelling suggestion that Voltaire’s portrait was among the works in La Tour’s agrément portfolio. Neil Jeffares, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, London: Anagallis Books, 2022, p. 24https://www.pastellists.com/Misc/Jeffares_LaTour_2022ed.pdf.Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, p. 113.“[…] j'ay eu mon balot de livres. J'ay eu aussi celuy où étoit mon portrait. Je voudrois qu'il fût un peu plue empâté et plus vif de couleurs. Pouriez vous en faire exécuter quelque copis un peu plus animée?” D1201, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 17 November 1736.
“Grand mercy mon cher correspondant. Faites faire d'abord deux bonnes copies après quoy nous en ferons d'autres. Mais voicy ce que je voudrois: que la première copie se fasse avec tout le savoir faire eta toute l'habileté de la copiste, afin qu'elle puisse servir d'original aux autres. Dès que cette première copie seroit faitte, je vous prierois de la faire examiner, et retoucher par Latour.” D1058, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 12 April 1736.
I agree on this point with Salmon. Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, p. 115.Jeffares J.46.31.Voltaire’s Sottisier includes the following complaint: “Aujourduy la Tour, peintre en pastel, demande 4800 [sic for 1800] livres pour 2 copies qui valent dix écus.” OCV, vol. 82, p. 450. A fee of 1800 livresfor two copies was indeed astronomical. As Xavier Salmon notes, by comparison, the royal administration’s rate for commissioned portraits was 1500 livres. Xavier Salmon, Maurice Quentin de La Tour: L’Œil absolu, Paris: Éditions Cohen & Cohen, 2024, p. 249. If this undated note refers to the 1735-37 pastel, it is possible that the copy was commissioned from another artist in order to reduce the costs, with La Tour brought in only to retouch the final result.“Envoyez moy je vous prie par le coche deux belles et très grandes boucles de souliers à diamants, d[es boucle]s de jarretières à diamants, deux [des grandes o]u quatre des petites estampes de mon petit visage.” D1201, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 17 November 1736.“Il m'a dit en partant qu'il v͞s prieroit de m'enuoyer son portrait en pastel quand le graueur en aura fait. […] Ie v͞s prie aussi de m'enuoyer trois de ses estampes in quarto a-et vne in douze-a montées auec des bordures dorés parcequ'il m'a chargé d'en donner p͞r lui et qu'il m'a dit que v͞s me les enuoyeriés.” D1226, Letter from Gabrielle Émilie de Châtelet-Lomont d’Haraucourt, marquise Du Châtelet-Lomont to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 16 December 1736.Hervé Cabezas, “Voltaire, ses portraits, par Maurice-Quentin de La Tour et Joseph Rosset, leur reproduction, au Musée Antoine Lécuyer de Saint-Quentin”, Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français(2009), pp. 175-211, here p. 184. La Henriade, poëme par M. de Voltaire, nouvelle édition, corrigée et augmentée, London [Paris]: [Prault fils], 1737https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/La_Henriade_po%C3%ABme_par_M_de_Voltaire_Nou/M61gAAAAcAAJ?hl=ru&gbpv=1&dq=henriade%20voltaire%201737%20prault%20fils&pg=PP2&printsec=frontcover.Likely the following announcement from the October 1735 issue of Mercure de France: “La suite des Portraits des Grands Hommes et des Personnes illustres dans les Sciences et dans les Arts, se continuë toujours ches Odieuvre, Marchand d'Estampes, vis-à-vis la Samaritaine. Il vient de mettre en vente, et toujours de la même grandeur. […] François-Marie Arrouet de Voltaire, né à Paris […]” Mercure de France (October 1735), pp. 2252-2253https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63550441/f134.item.r=odieuvre. He asked Thieriot and Berger to have a look at the print and report back: “Qu'estce qu'une estampe de moy qui se vend chez Odœuvre près de la Samaritaine, cela veut dire je croi sur le pont neuf? Il est juste que je sois avec mon héros. Voyez si cette estampe ressemble.” D951, Letter from Voltaire to Nicolas Claude Thieriot, 30 November 1735; “Qu'est ce qu'une estampe de moi, qui se vend chez Odievres? Voyez cela, je vous prie; j'en ferai venir pour le bailli du village, au cas que cela soit ressemblant.” D952, Letter from Voltaire to M. Berger, 1 December 1735.“En réponse à la lettre du 17, mon cher amy, je vous dirai premièrement, […] que j'attends avec impatience le pastel de la Tour, que l'estampe qu'on a tirée sur ce pastel est horride, et misérable, n'en déplaise au graveur, mais peu je m'en soucie. Je ne prends point le party de mon visage.” D1329, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 24 May 1737.
“On dit bien du mal des estampes de Gueulard. Ne pouroit on point me faire moins villain?” D1351, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 8 July 1737.
Élémens de la philosophie de Neuton, mis à la portée de tout le monde par Mr de Voltaire, Amsterdam: Étienne Ledet et Companie, 1738https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-osl_elemens-philosophie-neuton_OCTAVO-1191-21995/page/n7/mode/2up.“Encor un petit mot sur les livres que vous m'envoyez. Vous pouvez fort bien dépêcher les 13 tomes d'observations. Praut reprendra les 4 qu'il a déjà envoyez et qui sont brochez. Je vous prie de luy bien recomander de faire retoucher cette mauvaise estampe. Que Latour choisisse.” D1513, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 5 June 1738.
“Je n'ai jamais eu la vanité d'être gravé, mais puisque Odiœuvre et les autres ont défiguré l'ouvrage de mr de la Tour, il y faut remédier. La planche doit être in 8., parce que telle est la forme des livres où l'on imprime mes rêveries. L'abbé Moussinot s'était chargé d'un nouveau graveur; je lui écrirai; je connais le mérite de celui que l'on propose.” D1542, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca. 3 July 1738.
“Non seulement j'ai souhaité que mr de la Tour fût le maître de faire graver mon portrait; mais j'ai écrit à l'abbé Moussinot en conséquence; & ce n'est pas pour l'honneur de mon visage, mais pour l'honneur du pinceau de ce peintre aimable.” D1552, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca.12 July 1738.“Le graveur doit obéir au peintre, comme l'imprimeur à l'auteur. Si les animaux hollandais qui ont imprimé mes Eléments de Newton avaient été plus dociles, cet ouvrage ne serait pas plein de fautes d'impression. Je me tiens l'apôtre de Newton; mais j'ai peur de semer en terre ingrate.” D1562, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca. 20 July 1738.
“A l'égard de l'estampe, il faut, je crois, la donner à Odiœuvre, puisqu'il a fait les premiers frais. Il se chargera du graveur qui travaillera sous les yeux du peintre. Je donnerai cent francs au graveur pour ma part. Odiœuvre donnera le reste & aura la planche & moi j'aurai quelques estampes pour mes amis.
Je croyais que mr de la Tour avait un double original. Qu'a-t-il donc fait du premier pastel? Car je n'ai que le second. Enfin j'envoie ce que j'ai, & je l'envoie à l'adresse de l'abbé Moussinot. Faites bien des compliments au peintre qui m'a embelli & que les graveurs ont défiguré.” D1557, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca. 15 July 1738.
The pastel was sent to La Tour on August 7: “Une caisse est partie aujourduy de Joinville, contenant mon portrait que vous remettrez à mon ami la Tour. (Je ne sçai où est le bureau de ce coche). Vous êtes obligé en conscience de me faire graver autrement. Il faut qu'Odœuvre s'en mêle, je donnerai 100 ₶, la planche restera à Odœuvre, j'auray quelques estampes pour moy, la Tour conduira le graveur.” D1577, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 7 August 1738.“Mon cher abbé s'il est vray que Praut veuille se charger de ma figure, il faut luy remettre le portrait.” D1593, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot,18 August 1738.
Clearly, Fessard was not the engraver to whom Voltaire was referring to in an earlier letter to Berger: “L'abbé Moussinot s'était chargé d'un nouveau graveur; je lui écrirai; je connais le mérite de celui que l'on propose.” D1542, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca. 3 July 1738. It would be curious to know who this engraver was.“Apeine ay-je sçu graver, Monsieur, que mon ambition a été d'avoir L'honneur de faire votre portrait; ce désir qui c'est toujours nouri, m'avoit fait trouver les moyens de conoitre Monsieur l'abbé Moussinot. Enfin sans entrer dans un détail plus long J'étois parvenüe au point heureux après lequel J'aspirois depuis si longtemps: il étoit décidé que j'aurois l'honneur de vous graver; votre portrait original, Monsieur, étoit party comme vous le sçavez mieux que personne dans cette intention. Je m'en étois fait une fête parmy tous mes amis, je l'avois annoncé, il me sembloit même que je ne pouvois pas échouer dans cette noble entreprise. J'avois trop d'inclination pour y être malheureux, sur ce fondement J'avois même avancé à Monsieur Moussinot que si le portrait n'étoit pas au point où on devoit le désirer que Je n'en demandois rien, et même j'avois ajoutté que Je ne voulois dans cette illustre occasion travailler que pour l'honneur. J'étois Je le répète au comble de la joye mais qu'elle est suivie d'amertume et de Chagrin! J'apprens Monsieur par Monsieur de Latour qu'on a changé d'idée sur mon compte, et qu'on veut donner le portrait desiré depuis si long temps à graver à un autre. Je m'adresse à vous Monsieur, je suis au désespoir si on me fait cette Injustice après une Parolle donnée et l'avoir publié à tout le monde. Que dira le public? ne pensera t'on pas que Je n'en étois pas digne, ou mes ennemis ne diront ils pas que J'ay manqué ce portrait? Mais s'il est décidé absolument par envie ou pour faire plaisir à un autre que je n'auray pas eu l'honneur, du moins ordonné Monsieur que J'y travaille aussy Pardonnez monsieur si Je m'adresse à vous sans avoir L'honneur d'être connu de vous, mais votre réputation de bonté, et de politesse pour les artistes m'ont donné cette confiance. J'ay l'honneur d'être avec respect
Monsieur
Votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur
Fessard
de Paris ce 30 aoust 1738
Mon adresse est rüe St Denis au grand St Louis Chez un miroitier près d[u] Sépulchre, à Paris.” D1603, Letter from Étienne Fessard to Voltaire, 30 August 1738.“Un graveur nommé Fessard vient de m'écrire. J'aime autant que ce soit luy qui me grave qu'un autre. Envoyez le chez Praut, et mettez les aux mains.” D1609, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 2 September 1738.
Élémens de la philosophie de Neuton, données par Mr de Voltaire, nouvelle édition, London [Paris], [Prault], 1738https://dbooks.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/books/PDFs/N11296326.pdf.OCV, vol. 15, p. 77.“Je me flatte que vous voulez bien guider le graveur qui fait mon estampe d'après votre pastel.” D1652, Letter from Voltaire to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, 22 October 1738.
“Je vous prie de faire graver une estampe sur le portrait de Latour qui soit un peu moins grossière que celle de notre ivrogne.” D2502, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 20 June 1741. The 1741 edition was ultimately published without Voltaire’s portrait, only with Newton’s – see Elémens de la philosophie de Neuton, contenant la métaphysique, la théorie de la lumiere, et celle du monde, par M. de Voltaire, nouvelle édition, London [Paris]: [Prault], 1741https://archive.org/details/b3302585x/page/n5/mode/2up.
The book would make its first appearance only in 1745, in a series of prints by Jean-Joseph Balechou (1715–1764) ( VI265).“Cependant vous m'enveriez mon original bien enquadré, bien empaqueté, et sur cette première copie vous me feriez faire une miniature pour porter en bague. Le plutôt mon cher abbé, en cette afaire, comme en tout sera le mieux.” D1058, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 12 April 1736.
Like with the pastel, Voltaire was impatient for it to be completed, sending Moussinot multiple reminders – D1066, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 20 April 1736 and D1191, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 6 November 1736.“On dit qu'il y a un homme à Paris qui fait les portraits en bague d'une manière parfaitte. J'ay vu un portrait de Louis 15 de sa façon très ressemblant. Vous trouverez impertinent que la même main paigne le roy et moy chétif, mais on le veut, et j'obéis. Ayez donc la bonté de déterrer cet homme. Envoyez de ma part savoir où il demeure, à mr le chevalier de Villefort, chez Mgr le comte de Clermont pds.” D1201, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 17 November 1736. The Chevalier de Villefort (Philippe d'Isarn de Villefort de Montjeu) visited Voltaire and Émilie du Châtelet around the time of this letter – see the note from 24 November 1736 in Nouvelles de la cour et de la ville concernant le monde, les arts, les théâtres et les lettres, 1734–1738, Paris: Édouard Rouveyre, 1879, pp. 124-125https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044019401983?urlappend=%3Bseq=136%3Bownerid=27021597765961351-150, and D1205, Letter from Jean Bernard Le Blanc to Jean Bouhier, 19 November 1736. It would be reasonable to assume that he suggested Pinel to Châtelet during that visit.
On Penel, see Nathalie Lemoine-Bouchard, Les peintres en miniature actifs en France, 1650–1850, Paris: Amateur, 2008, pp. 412-413. Lemoine-Bouchard is currently working on an article on Penel’s miniature for Voltaire, which will be published in the Bulletin de la SHAF.A couple of months earlier, she had commissioned rings for miniature portraits of Francesco Algarotti (1712–1764): “Je vous remercie de vos petits portraits; je les ai envoyés à Paris pour en faire faire des bagues. Celui de mr de Voltaire est infiniment mieux que l'estampe, quoiqu'il ne soit pas encore parfaitement ressemblant; c'est une jolie galanterie que cela.” D1065, Letter from Gabrielle Émilie de Châtelet-Lomont d’Haraucourt, marquise Du Châtelet-Lomont to conte Francesco Algarotti, 20 April 1736.“Il m'a dit en partant qu'il v͞s prieroit de m'enuoyer son portrait en pastel quand le graueur en aura fait. Ie v͞s en suplie aussi, et de le laisser copier auanta en bague à un petit peintre que mr le cheualier de Villefort doit enuoyer chez vous de ma part p͞r cela.” D1226, Letter from Gabrielle Émilie de Châtelet-Lomont d’Haraucourt, marquise Du Châtelet-Lomont to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 16 December 1736.
“A L’égard du portrait de Penel en bague; s'il est bien, il faut le prendre, et le payer à Penel. Vous ferez le prix vous même. Je vous prie si vous en êtes contente de la faire monter joliment en bague pour doigt de femme.” D1306, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 30 March 1737; A L’égard du portrait peint par Penel, n'en parlez point à Mr du Chastelet. On le fera payer d'ailleurs. D1329, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 24 May 1737.“Mr de Latour, le peintre, doit vous venir voir au sujet de mon portrait. Je vous prie de faire généralement tout ce qui poura luy faire plaisir. Il veut exposer le pastel qu'il en a gardé; de tout mon cœur, mais je voudrois moy qu'il le fît graver en pierre et en avoir une vingtaine de pierres. Vous luy en parlerez.” D1539, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 3 July 1738. Soon “vingtaine” became “douzaine”: “Il y a des personnes assez curieuses pour vouloir avoir ce petit visage là gravé en pierre à cachet. Si mr de la Tour veut encore se charger de cette besogne, il sera le maître du prix. Priez le de m'instruire comment il faut s'y prendre & dans quel temps on pourrait espérer une douzaine de pierres.” D1552, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca.12 July 1738.A short biography of Barier can be found in Pierre-Jean Mariette, Traité des pierres gravées, Paris: Mariette, 1750, 2 vols., vol. 1, pp. 148-149https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k311112h/f166.image.r=barier and Louis de Bonafous de Fontenai, Dictionnaire des artistes, ou Notice historique et raisonnée des architectes, peintres, graveurs, sculpteurs, musiciens, acteurs et danseurs, imprimeurs, horlogers et méchaniciens, Paris: Vincent, 1776, 2 vols., vol.1, p. 145https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9800671w/f165.item.r=barier. Barier is also mentioned in Claude-Henri Watelet’s (1718–1786) Dictionnaire des arts de peinture, sculpture et gravure, Paris: Prault, 1792, vol. 5, p. 50https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bd6t5783892h/f55.image.r=Barier%20pierres%20fines?rk=364808;4.“L'abbé Moussinot s'était chargé d'un nouveau graveur; je lui écrirai; je connais le mérite de celui que l'on propose. Un grand cabinet de physique et quelques achats de chevaux m'ont un peu épuisé et m'ont rendu indigne de la pierre qui représente Newton. Je me contente de ses ouvrages pour une pistole. J'aimerais mieux, il est vrai, acheter cette tête, que de faire graver la mienne, et je suis honteux de la préférence que je me donne; mais on m'y force. Mes amis qui admirent Newton, mais qui m'aiment, veulent m'avoir; ayez donc la bonté d'aller trouver mr Barier avec mr de la Tour. Je m'en rapporte à lui et à vous. Vous cachèterez, s'il vous plaît, vos lettres avec mon visage. Il faut que la pierre soit un peu plus grande qu'à l'ordinaire; mais moindre que ce Newton qui est une espèce de médaillon. On ne veut point envoyer mon portrait en pastel; mais mr de La Tour en a un double. Il n'y a qu'à y faire mettre une bordure et une glace. Je demande à mr l'abbé Moussinot, qu'il en fasse les frais.” D1542, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca. 3 July 1738. D1552 is currently dated to ca. 12 July, D1542 to ca. 3 July, but the contents make it certain that the first predates the second.“Je compte que vous m'enverrez incessamment au moins un de mes portraits. Mandez moy [un] peu mon cher abbé ce qu'on fait de mon [ma]igre visage. Je ne m'y intéresse guères, mais [mes am]is en ont quelque envie, parce qu'il [appa]rtient à un homme dont ils connaissent [le cœ]ur.” D1084, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 7 June 1736.“Il y a des personnes assez curieuses pour vouloir avoir ce petit visage là gravé en pierre à cachet.” D1552, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca.12 July 1738; “On demande les pierres de mr Barier avec plus d'empressement que je ne mérite.” D1557, Letter from Voltaire to Berger, ca. 15 July 1738.“Si je pouvois sortir les matins j'irois chez Barrier pour ce vilain portrait en bague. Si j'assemblois les comédiens je leur persuaderois qu'ils doivent laisser entrer mon amy qui un jour fera entrer bien du monde à leur spectacle. J'envoye le portrait de me du Chastelet, il vaut mieux L'avoir que le mien. J'envoye un billet de comédie quoy que j'en aye donné douze. Puisqu'on veut absolument cette pierre gravée, on l'aura absolument. Je demande bien pardon de ce que la journée n'a que 24 heures.” D2070, Letter from Voltaire to François Thomas Marie de Baculard d’Arnaud, August / September 1739.
Another possible recipient of a seal was Francesco Algarotti, the Italian polymath who had visited Paris in 1738 and who, in April 1739, asked Voltaire: “A propos mandez moi, monsieur, si vous êtes content de votre portrait gravé en pierre que j'ai vu commencé dans les mains de Banier; mais surtout aimez moi, et soyez persuadé que personne au monde ne vous honore et ne vous admire plus que moi.” D1961, Letter from conte Francesco Algarotti to Voltaire, 1 April 1739.
“Je v͞s rens bien des Grâces monsieur de la jolie comission que v͞s aués bien voulu m'enuoyer. I'en suis très contente, et i'ymagine qu'une demie heure Employée à notre premier voyage de Paris à le retoucher sur la personne même, le rendra parfait autant qu'un profil peut l'être. J'espère qu'àprésent que v͞s aués le portrait v͞s voudrés bien faire trauailler à la mignature de ma bague. Ie v͞s laisse le choix du peintre, et ie ne le trouuerai point cher quoiqu'il puisse coûter s'il Est bien resemblant, mais ie v͞s suplie que le visage ne soit point trop grand par proportion à la place et de le faire mettre dans la bague auec une petite glace de façon qu'il ne puisse plus tomber. Ie v͞s prie aussi de me faire faire vne demie douzaines de copies de Celui de Barier, 3 en vert, et 3 come celle que v͞s aués Enuoiée p͞r modèle et qui Est très bien. V͞s me les Enuerés non montées auec la bague par vne voie que ie v͞s indiqueray.” D2428, Letter from Gabrielle Émilie de Châtelet-Lomont d’Haraucourt, marquise Du Châtelet-Lomont to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 17 February 1741.“Barier grava ces traits destinés pour vos yeux:
Avec quelque plaisir daignez les reconnaître:
Les vôtres dans mon cœur furent gravés bien mieux;
Mais ce fut par un plus grand maître.” OCV, vol. 16, p. 478.“Lorsqu'elle expira, madame la marquise de Boufllers était accourue dans la chambre avec les
autres personnes de sa maison. En se retirant, elle m'appela à l'écart, et me dit à l'oreille de voir
si madame du Châtelet n'avait point encore au doigt une bague, de cornaline entourée de petits
brillans; que si elle y était encore, je n'avais qu'à la prendre et à la garder jusqu'à nouvel ordre.
Je trouvai la bague et la mis dans une petite boîte que j'avais en poche, en instruisant la première
femme-de-chambre, qui était présente, de ce que m'avait prescrit madame de Boufflers. Le lendemain cette dame me fit appeler; je me rendis aussitôt chez elle, et lui remis la petite boîte où était
la bague M. de Saint-Lambert se trouvait là. Elle ouvrit la boîte en sa présence, et, en lui montrant
la bague, qu'il connaissait bien, elle en souleva le chaton qui était à secret, et tira de dessous, avec
une épingle, le portrait de M. de Saint-Lambert, qu'elle lui donna; et me rendant la bague, elle
me chargea de la remettre, avec d'autres effets, à M. le marquis du Châtelet. Je m'acquittai de cette
commission le lendemain matin. Deux ou trois jours après, M. de Voltaire ayant retrouvé un peu
de calme, se ressouvint que son portrait avait été autrefois renfermé sous le chaton de cette même
bague, et il supposait qu'il y était encore. Il me dit de m'informer si la bague n'était point restée
entre les mains de la première femme-de-chambre; que si elle me la montrait, je n'aurais qu'à l'ouvrir par un moyen qu'il m'indiqua, en ôter le portrait et le lui rapporter. Je lui dis alors que la
bague dont il parlait avait été remise par moi-même entre les mains de M. le marquis du Châtelet, l'ayant pour cet effet tiré du doigt de madame son épouse, immédiatement après sa mort,
d'après l'ordre que j'en avais reçu de madame de Boufflers; mais que son portrait n'était plus sous
le chaton. Eh! comment savez-vous cela?me dit-il. Je lui racontai ingénument ce qui s'était passé
chez madame de Boufflers, en présence de M. de Saint- Lambert. O ciel! dit-il, en levant et joignantles deux mains, voilà bien les femmes! j'en avais ôté Richelieu, Saint-Lambert m'en a expulsé; cela est dans l'ordre, un clou chasse l'autre ainsi vont les choses de ce monde!” Mémoires sur Voltaire et sur ses ouvrages, par Longchamp et Wagnière, ses secrétaires, Paris: Aimé André, 1826, 2 vols., vol. 2, pp. 252-254https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k864574/f255.image.r=bague#.A technique of working with carnelian attributed to Barier is described in comte de Caylus’s (1692–1765) Recueil d'antiquités égyptiennes, étrusques, grecques et romaines, Paris: Desaint et Saillant, 1752–1767, 7 vols., vol. 6, pp. 298-299: “Elle consiste à mettre une couche de tripoli bien égale sur une cornaline, et à l’exposer à un feu très-doux, car s’il étoit fort, il feroit blanchir la cornaline. Ce feu doux établit si bien ce tripoli,que le touret ne l’emporte pas plus aisément que la cornaline ou l’agate que l’on veut graver. Ce travail, ainsi disposé, présente des figues rouges sur un fonds blanc, que rien ne peut altérer. Cette opération donne une sorte d’agrément aux compositions, et produit du moins une petite singularité. Je dois le secret de cette petite manœuvre à feu Barier, Graveur du Roi en pierre, qui l’avoit retrouvé par hasard en cherchant autre chose, comme il arrive presque toujours.” I have not found any works by Barier in present-day collections. A carnelian ring by Barier is listed in a 25 February 1777 public auction catalogue – Catalogue d'effets précieux, en pendules, girandoles, feux, bras, bronzes, secrétaires, bureaux, porcelaines, porphyre, objets de curiosité, bijoux, tableaux, miniatures, et autres, Paris: Delongpré, 1777, p. 12, cat. no. 64https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6530117v/f12.image.r=barier%20graveur%20du%20roi%20pierre%20cornaline?rk=85837;2 – and a “Cornaline gravée par Barier; elle représente une belle tête de femme” in the sale catalogue of the collection of royal jeweler Pierre-André Jacqmin (1720–1773) – Catalogue d'une riche collection de coquilles, madrépores, mineraux, agathes, pierres précieuses, bijoux, tableaux, dessins et estampes montés, bronzes, terres cuites, porcelaines, livres & autres objets curieux, provenans de la succession de feu M. Jacqmin, jouaillier du Roi et de la Couronne, Paris: Prault, 1773, p. 75, cat. no. 686https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k30698246/f95.image.r=barier.“Vraiment on m'a demandé déjà La charpente de mon visage pour l'académie. Il y a un ancien portrait d'après Latour chez ma nièce de Fontaine. Il faut qu'elle fasse une copie de ce harang soret, mais elle est actuellement avec son ami et ses dindons dans sa terre et ne reviendra que cet hiver. Vous aurez alors ma maigre figure. Dalembert s'était chargé auprès d'elle de cette importante negotiation.” D7453, Letter from Voltaire to Charles Augustin Feriol, comte d’Argental, 8 November 1757. See also D7469, Letter from Voltaire to Charles Augustin Feriol, comte d’Argental, 19 November 1757: “Le portrait que vous daignez demander, mon cher ange, est celui d'un homme qui vous est bien tendrement uni et qui ne regrette que vous et votre société dans tout Paris. L'académie aura la copie du portrait peint par La Tour. Il faut que je vous aime autant que je fais pour songer à me faire peindre à présent.”
“Nous vous avons envoié un portret dont je vous demende bien pardon. Mettez le au grenier. C'est bien malgré moi qu'il vous est parvenu. Je craignais que vous ne jujassiez notre pais par cet échantillon. Heureusement Liotar, peintre que vous avez vu abillé en turque à Paris, c'est retiré à Geneves, sa patrie, et va peindre mon oncle la semaine prochaine. Ma soeur emportera le portret et en fera faire des copies en huile à Paris. Cet homme atrape la ressemblance à merveille. J'espère que vous reconnoitrai votre ami quand il sera tracé de sa main.” D7750, Letter from Marie Louise Denis to Charles Augustin Feriol, comte d’Argental, 7 June 1758.“J'ajoute encor un petit mot sur ma triste figure. Je vous jure que je suis aussi laid que mon portrait. Croiez moy. Le peintre n'est pas bon je l'avoue, mais il n'est pas flatteur. Faites en faire mon cher ange une copie pour l'académie. Qu'importe après tout que l'image d'un pauvre diable qui sera bientôt poussière, soit ressemblante ou non. Les portraits sont une chimère, comme tout le reste. L'original vous aimera bien tendrement tant qu'il vivra.” D7757, Letter from Voltaire to Charles Augustin Feriol, comte d’Argental, 16 June 1758.
On engraved copies produced in Voltaire’s lifetime, see Hervé Cabezas, “Voltaire, ses portraits, par Maurice-Quentin de La Tour et Joseph Rosset, leur reproduction, au Musée Antoine Lécuyer de Saint-Quentin”, Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français(2009), pp. 175-211, here pp. 184-196.“Avez vous retiré mon portrait? avez vous fait commencer les copies? le ferez vous graver?” D1115, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 16 July 1736.Characteristically, La Tour wanted to exhibit the work at the Salon but instead it was sent to Barier to be copied for sealing stones: “Mr de Latour, le peintre, doit vous venir voir au sujet de mon portrait. Je vous prie de faire généralement tout ce qui poura luy faire plaisir. Il veut exposer le pastel qu'il en a gardé; de tout mon cœur, mais je voudrois moy qu'il le fît graver en pierre et en avoir une vingtaine de pierres. Vous luy en parlerez. Adieu mon cher amy. Vous allez à la campagne, et que ne venez vous à la nôtre?” D1539, Letter from Voltaire to père Bonaventure Moussinot, abbé Moussinot, 3 July 1738.Neil Jeffares, Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, London: Anagallis Books, 2022, p. 49https://www.pastellists.com/Misc/Jeffares_LaTour_2022ed.pdf.Already in 1738, Voltaire was congratulating La Tour on the success he was having in Paris: “Je vous fais mon compliment, mon cher confrère dans les baux arts, des grands succez que vous avez à Paris. Je me flatte que vous voulez bien guider le graveur qui fait mon estampe d'après votre pastel. Quand vous voudrez venir à Cirey, vous y peindrez des personnes plus dignes que moy de vos crayons.” D1632, Letter from Voltaire to Maurice Quentin de La Tour, 22 October 1738.Charles Joseph, prince de Ligne (1735–1814) tried to convince La Tour to go to Ferney to paint Voltaire again in 1766, but this visit does not seem to have happened: “J'ai persuadé, il y a quelques jours à M. de Lattour, Le grand maitre en pastel, d'aller vous faire sa Cour, et de nous la faire, par un portrait meilleur que tous les autres.” D13333, Letter from Charles Joseph, prince de Ligne to Voltaire, 1 June 1766.
