A propos du tableau de Lemonnier : « Une soirée chez Madame Geoffrin » - article ; n°1 ; vol.12, pg 4-18

Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie - Année 1992 - Volume 12 - Numéro 1 - Pages 4-18
John Lough: Lemonnier's Painting, Une soirée chez Madame Geoffrin en 1755.
Lemonnier's painting, originally entitled Première lecture, chez Madame Geoffrin, de l'Orphelin de Chine, first exhibited in 1814, is reproduced in many books on the 18th Century. We demonstrate that Mme Geoffrin did not possess the bust of Voltaire shown in the painting, and that most of the 54 people present in the picture of the salon could not have attended her Wednesday dinners, which were much more intimate, at that date. Only 15 of those shown are known to have attended, while others, not included, did attend. The picture is thus of no documentary value concerning the place of the writer in the society of the Ancien Régime.
15 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.