Je Suis... Voltaire
January 16 2015
Picture: Palais de Versailles
The New York Times reports that, in response to the Charlie Hebdo murders last week, the palace of Versailles will re-hang 'a rarely seen' portrait of Voltaire by de Largillière (above) in a more prominent place. The picture will form part of a display of French enlightenment thinkers.
Says the NYT:
The installation was conceived by Catherine Pégard, the palace’s president. Ms. Pégard explained in a telephone conversation in French that the project was a way to honor the victims, “because at Versailles we’re in a certain sense an emblem of ‘l’esprit français,” she said, referring to the enlightenment thinkers on view in the museum’s collection and on its website. “It’s also the liberty to say things, the liberty to think, the liberty to express oneself. And all these authors express this humanity.” She added: “The homage that Versailles is showing is a ‘just’ homage. Just in the exact sense. Just in the sense of the continuity of French history.’’
More here on the Versailles website.
Update - a reader writes:
M Voltaire was known to express anti-semitic opinions, and in Frederick the Great's Prussia even started a vexatious court case against a Jewish money broker; there are loads of quotes, eg
" C’est à regret que je parle des Juifs: cette nation est, à bien des égards, la plus détestable qui ait jamais souillé la terre."
( Voltaire dans son Article du « Dictionnaire philosophique », 1765 « Tolérance », section I).
