I recently came across the attached portrait of Voltaire in a private library, and I would be interested to know more about its background. It is an ink sketch by Christian Bernhard Rode. He is said to have produced the drawing in 1762 at Voltaire’s residence in Ferney. The work in question was later presented by Rode to Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, as indicated by the dedication at the bottom of the picture, and was subsequently sold back into private hands. Are you familiar with this sketch and/or do you perhaps know any further details about the work in question? I would be very grateful for a brief reply. Kind regards, Raffael Tondeur
Right at the outset, I must – perhaps for the best! – admit my ignorance: I have not come across Rodes’s drawing of Voltaire in the literature. Incidentally, little-known or completely unknown portraits of Voltaire – whether as drawings, medals or in other forms – are not uncommon.
With kind regards
Yours, Volker Reinhardt