Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694–1778)

Voltaire, the French Enlightenment philosopher whom Blake both admired and criticized, appears in this visionary portrait from around 1800 at Manchester Art Gallery. Blake's relationship with Enlightenment rationalism was deeply ambivalent—he respected Voltaire's critique of religious tyranny while rejecting the materialism that accompanied Enlightenment philosophy. The portrait captures this complexity, depicting Voltaire with the penetrating intelligence Blake acknowledged.

Blake's portrait of Voltaire captures the philosopher's famous sharp features and sardonic expression with characteristic linear precision. The watercolor technique is restrained, allowing the drawing to dominate in a manner appropriate to a figure Blake associated with cold reason rather than warm imagination. The palette is cooler than in the more sympathetically rendered poet portraits.