Couronnement de Voltaire 1782

Charles Etienne Gaucher created this print, Couronnement de Voltaire, in France to commemorate a specific moment. Voltaire’s plays were performed at the Théâtre-Français in Paris and he returned to the city after a long absence to attend. Here, we see a stage crowded with figures, celebrating Voltaire’s bust with wreaths. The audience fills the theatre. This image speaks to the public role of art and theatre in pre-revolutionary France, when writers and playwrights could become important public figures and, in the case of Voltaire, even challenge religious and political norms. Theatre was a social institution. This print celebrates Voltaire’s perceived triumph over those institutions. To understand this image better, we can research the history of the Théâtre-Français, the life and work of Voltaire, and the social and political context of France in the late 18th century. What can be seen as a progressive political stance in the 1770s? The historian can use these resources to better understand the meaning of the image.