Voltaire
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Voltaire
by Richard Purcell (H. Fowler, Charles or Philip Corbutt), after L. Sen
mezzotint, circa 1736-1766
15 in. x 11 in. (381 mm x 278 mm) paper size
Given by Sir Herbert Henry Raphael, 1st Bt, 1913
Reference Collection
NPG D19252
Sitterback to top
- Voltaire (François Marie Arouet) (1694-1778), Writer, satirist, philosopher and historian. Sitter in 6 portraits.
Artistsback to top
- Richard Purcell (H. Fowler, Charles or Philip Corbutt) (active 1746-died 1766), Engraver. Artist or producer associated with 77 portraits.
- L. Sen (active 18th century), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 1 portrait.
Events of 1736back to top
Current affairs
Frederick, Prince of Wales marries Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.Porteous Riots in Edinburgh after the execution of smuggler Andrew Wilson. Captain John Porteous orders his men to fire into the mob, causing six deaths. He is found guilty of murder, dragged from his cell, beaten and hung to death by a mob.
Repeal of laws against witchcraft.
Gin Act attempts to curtail consumption of gin.
Art and science
Posthumous publication of Isaac Newton's Method of Fluxions, describing his method of differential calculus.One of the earliest recorded uses of a Bathing Machine at Scarborough.
International
Methodist preachers John and Charles Wesley arrive in Savannah, Georgia.Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates the throne.
Swiss mathematician and physicist Leonhard Euler produces the first published proof of Fermat's little theorem concerning prime numbers.
Charles Marie de La Condamine and François Fresneau Gataudière make the first scientific observations of rubber in Ecuador.
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