Voltaire (1694–1778), full name François Marie Arouet. French philosopher, historian and writer. One of the leading representatives of the Englightenment, co-author of the Encyclopédie, author of tragedies. He was widely acclaimed for his philosophical treatises, rationalist theory of historical development. He put forth his views in Treatise on Tolerance, Letters Concerning the English Nation, Candide, etc. Criticized in France, for a time he lived in England and Potsdam. His ideas were fascinating to European rulers of the time, including King Friedrich II of Prussia, the Empress Catherine II of Russia and King Stanisław August Poniatowski of Poland. Voltaire returned triumphantly from his estate in Ferney to Paris in February 1778, and in March his bust by Houdon was unveiled in the atelier at the Comédie-Française. When working on the likeness, the artist known for his great precision not only made use of a mask of Voltaire's face, but also prevailed upon the philosopher to pose a few times in his studio. Although Voltaire died in May that year, Houdon made a great many portraits of him based on the sessions during which Voltaire had sat for him in his lifetime. The most famous of these is a statue made in 1780 of Voltaire sitting in an armchair. The bust of Voltaire, known as a la français, shows him wearing contemporary clothes – a frock coat, stock tie and long wig of a somewhat unfashionable cut. Two versions of the bust are known, which have been replicated a great number of times in various materials. The version in the Royal Castle in Warsaw lacks the lavish drapery over the shoulders which can be seen in the copies in the Branderburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften Archiv in Berlin (marble) and the Bavarian residence in Ansbach (plaster). Copies that are identical to the one in the King Stanisław August collection include those in the Louvre, Versailles and the National Gallery in Washington (all in marble). A sculpture identical to the one in Warsaw, although slightly smaller – 54.5 cm high) is housed in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris; a terracotta bust of the same size was in the collection of H.H. Arnason, the French author of a monograph on Houdon. The bust which was brought from Paris on 8 November 1784, enriched King Stanisław August Poniatowski's collection of sculptures at the Royal Castle in Warsaw; it was exhibited in the King's Cabinet. From 1817 it was the property of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Warsaw; in the years 1939–84 it was in the National Museum in Warsaw. Jean-Antoine Houdon (Versailles 1741–1828 Paris) French sculptor; one of the most outstanding artists of the late 18th/early 19th c. Pupil of René-Michel Slodtz, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. In the years 1764–8 he lived in Rome. He won acclaim for his realistic portrait busts: Voltaire, George Washington, Catherine II, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, Napoleon I and others. He also made tombstones as well as sculptures with religious and mythological themes.