Glossary
D’Alembert (Jean Le Rond), Paris, 1717 – Paris, 1783:
French philosopher, writer, and mathematician. He was the illegitimate son of Mme de Tencin, well known for her literary salons. He co-authored the Encyclopedia with Diderot, contributing the Discours préliminaire (Preliminary Discourse, 1751). His article on Geneva was attacked by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. His other works include Théorie générale des vents (General Theory of Winds) and Mélanges de littérature et de philosophie (Writings on Literature and Philosophy).
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Carriera (Rosalba), Venice, 1675 – Venice, 1757:
Italian miniature painter and artist working in pastels. She visited Paris in 1720 and was appointed a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, starting a craze for drawing in pastels. Her portraits of European nobility suggest a sensitive feel for texture and coloring.
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Cythera:
The southernmost of the Greek Ionian islands, south of the Peloponnese. In literature and the arts, Cythera represents an idyllic ideal, as the island is dedicated to Aphrodite, goddess of love.
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Diderot (Denis),
Langres, 1713 – Paris, 1784:
French writer and philosopher, best known for co-authoring the Encyclopedia with D’Alembert. This enormous undertaking occupied him from 1747 to 1766. His literary works reflect the evolution of his philosophical thinking, in particular his famous Letter on the Blind, for the Benefit of Those who See (1749) for which he was imprisoned in Vincennes. He was fascinated by issues of aesthetics and published numerous art reviews in his Salons from 1759 to 1781.
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Encyclopedia:
The Encyclopedia, edited by Diderot and D’Alembert and published from 1747 to 1766, was a massive intellectual undertaking which attempted to catalogue and define the whole of human experience.
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Enlightenment:
A philosophical movement that spread across Europe in the eighteenth century which emphasized the importance of rationality as opposed to superstition.
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Intaglio:
An intaglio gemstone has an image carved into its surface, mainly used in the decoration of gold and silverware and to make seals. The term “intaglio” also refers to an image incised in the surface of any material such as wood or leather.
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Lettre de cachet:
A letter closed with the royal seal containing orders or judgements pronounced by the king with no possibility of appeal.
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Madrigal:
In sixteenth- to eighteenth-century France, the word “madrigal” refers to a work of poetry in free verse which expresses a delicate sentiment, often a compliment to a lady.
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Marivaux (Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de),
Paris, 1668 – Paris, 1763:
French author and playwright. He began to frequent literary salons soon after his arrival in Paris in 1712. His early works enjoyed little success. He was ruined by the infamous bankruptcy of John Law’s Banque Générale Privée and thereafter devoted all his efforts to literature and the theatre. He wrote some forty plays, including Le Jeu de l’amour et du hasard (The Game of Love and Chance, 1730) and Les Fausses Confidences (False Admissions, 1737), and is much admired to this day for his elegant language and his clever plots on the themes of pastoral charms and young love.
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Pastel:
The term “pastel” has two distinct meanings. It can be used to refer to woad, a plant whose leaves and stems produced a blue color much used for dyeing cloth until the seventeenth century, when it lost ground to indigo imported from India. It also means sticks of colored dry paste, hand-made by artists from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, since when they have been produced industrially.
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Rocaille:
The term “rocaille” refers to a style of ornamentation that came into fashion in the early eighteenth century and remained popular throughout the reign of Louis XV. It is characterized by an abundance of ornate whorls in imitation of tendrils and sea-shells.
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Rousseau (Jean-Jacques), Geneva, 1712 – Ermenonville, 1778:
Born in Geneva but from a French family, Rousseau was a writer and philosopher. He became friends with Diderot in Paris and worked on the Encyclopedia. His Discours sur les sciences et les arts (Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, 1750) made him famous, and his Discours sur l’origine de l’inégalité (Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, 1755) had a profound impact on modern political thought. His demand for equality and liberty was a major source of inspiration for the French Revolution. He is also remembered today for the love of nature that shines through in his famous Rêveries d’un promeneur solitaire (Reveries of the Solitary Walker).
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Salons:
From the early eighteenth century to the French Revolution, the literary salons of Paris drew men of letters, aristocrats, and distinguished foreigners from all over Europe. Their influence as centers of cultural exchange was at its height in France and Europe in the years after 1750.
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Trompe-l’œil:
A technique of painting or decorating which uses various artistic means to create the illusion of real three-dimensional objects or scenes. The term is also used more generally to refer to the art of producing such works.
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Voltaire (François Marie Arouet, known as),
Paris, 1694 – Paris, 1778:
French writer. He was constantly at odds with the powers that be, beginning with his earliest works. He was imprisoned in the Bastille and spent several periods of exile in England and Prussia, where he was welcomed at the court of Frederick the Great. His liberal philosophy and polemical beliefs are apparent in his poems (Le mondain, 1736), philosophical tales, (Candide, 1759) and essays (Dictionnaire philosophique, 1764). He is also remembered for his outspoken defense of victims of miscarriages of justice, such as the infamous Calas case.
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