Portrait of Denis Diderot
| Portrait of Denis Diderot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Louis-Michel van Loo |
| Year | 1767 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, portrait painting |
| Dimensions | 81 cm × 65 cm (32 in × 26 in) |
| Location | Louvre, Paris |
Portrait of Denis Diderot is a 1767 portrait painting by the French artist Louis-Michel van Loo. Rococo in style, it depicts the philosopher, writer and art critic Denis Diderot, a significant figure in the Age of Enlightenment in Ancien régime France.[1] It was common in the eighteenth century for writers to be portrayed in dressing gowns to indicate their literary interests.[2]
Diderot himself strongly disliked the painting.[3][4] It was exhibited at the Salon of 1767 at the Louvre in Paris, which Diderot wrote about extensively.[5] Today it is in the collection of the Louvre, having been acquired in 1911.[6]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Koda, Harold Bolton, Andrew. Dangerous Liaisons: Fashion and Furniture in the Eighteenth Century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006.
- Milam, Jennifer D. Historical Dictionary of Rococo Art. Scarecrow Press, 2011.
- Milano, Ronit. The Portrait Bust and French Cultural Politics in the Eighteenth Century. BRILL, 2015.
- Peretz, Eyal. Dramatic Experiments: Life according to Diderot. State University of New York Press, 2013.
- Poulet, Anne L. Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment. University of Chicago Press, 2003.