Marie Thérèse Geoffrin
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Marie Thérèse Geoffrin was a French salon holder who has been referred to as one of the leading female figures in the French Enlightenment. From 1750 to 1777, Madame Geoffrin played host to many of th
Presumed portrait of Madame Geoffrin.
In the Salon of Madame Geoffrin in 1755 by Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier. Oil on canvas, Château de Malmaison, Rueil-Malmaison, France.
French Enlightenment
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The French Enlightenment, was the intellectual and cultural movement that flourished in 18th-century France, forming a central part of the Age of Enlightenment. The movement placed emphasis on reason
Montesquieu c. 1750
Voltaire c. 1720s
Denis Diderot in 1767
Although Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva, he is often considered a major figure of the French Enlightenment. (Portrait by Maurice Quentin de La Tour, 1753)