Madame Geoffrin’s Salon in 1755

This 1812 painting by Anicet Charles Lemonnier claims to depict the best-known Parisian salon of the 1750s. Lemonnier was only twelve years old in 1755 and so could not have based his rendition on firsthand knowledge. Madame Geoffrin is the figure in blue on the right facing the viewer. The bust is of Voltaire. Rousseau is the fifth person to the left of the bust (facing right), and behind him (facing left) is Raynal. (De Agostini Picture Library / Gianni Dagli Orti / Bridgeman Images.)