Le fete des ames vers le soir les japonn…

Bernard Picart (1673 - 1733)

Picart was a French artist and engraver. He was born in Paris and died in Amsterdam. He moved to Antwerp in 1696, and spent a year in Amsterdam before returning to France at the end of 1698. After his wife died in 1708, he moved to Amsterdam in 1711 (later being joined by his father), where he became a Protestant His most famous work is Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde. Although Picart had never left Europe, he relied on accounts by those who had and had access to a collection of Indian sculpture.

View other items by Bernard Picart

Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784)

Diderot was the most prominent of the French Encyclopaedists. The Encyclopédie is the most famous publications representing the thought and ideals of the Enlightenment. The Encyclopédie's aim was "to change the way people think". Diderot wanted to incorporate all of the world's knowledge into the Encyclopédie and it was the first general encyclopaedia to describe the mechanical arts. It attempted to collect and summarise human knowledge in a variety of fields and topics, including philosophy, theology, science and the arts. The Encyclopédie was controversial for reorganising knowledge based on human reason instead of by nature or theology.

View other items by Denis Diderot