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Voltaire Arriving in Hell Riding Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A work made of etching on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching on cream laid paper.

Date:

c. 1778-80

Artist:

Unknown artist
French, 18th century

About this artwork

Voltaire frequently satirized the fundamentalists of established religions, especially Catholicism, which earned him plenty of enemies. Made by someone who opposed Voltaire’s attitudes about religious tolerance, this curious print depicts the writer embracing demonic spirituality in a hellish, nocturnal scene. The lines below the image come from Voltaire’s unfinished 1730 poem about Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orleans, uttered by a dastardly character banished to Hell for his designs on the purity of the titular saint. The quotation here is particularly ironic, employing the poet’s own words against him:Oh my friends, you should live as good Christians.
That’s the part, believe me, one must take.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Unknown artist

Title

Voltaire Arriving in Hell Riding Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1765–1775

Medium

Etching on cream laid paper

Dimensions

Plate: 15.4 × 18.9 cm (6 1/8 × 7 1/2 in.); Sheet: 18.3 × 23 cm (7 1/4 × 9 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Joseph T. Ryerson Endowment

Reference Number

1993.182

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/122064/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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