Lumieres Collection
Amidst the intellectual brilliance of 18th century France, five luminaries of the Enlightenment shone brightly
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Amidst the intellectual brilliance of 18th century France, five luminaries of the Enlightenment shone brightly. Rene Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur, depicted in an engraving, was a naturalist and polymath. Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu, seen in an engraving, penned "The Spirit of the Laws," shaping modern political thought. Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, shown in a vibrant coloured engraving, was a playwright and revolutionary figure. Voltaire, portrayed in a pastel on paper, was a prolific writer and philosopher, known for his wit and advocacy for reason. The children's fascination with the Orrery, as depicted in a detail from an oil on canvas painting, mirrored the curiosity and thirst for knowledge that characterized the era. The Meeting of Encyclopedistes at Diderot's Home, immortalized in an 1859 painting, brought together the greatest minds of the Enlightenment. J.J. Lenoir's engraving of Reaumur and Figuier's illustrations of UFOs, found in selection of journals, hint at the interconnectedness of science and imagination, even in the most unconventional of ways.