Oval medallion with profile portrait of Jean Francois Marmontel 1723 1799 French writer and dramatist born in the Limousin region noe Haute Vienne Educated at the Jesuit college at Mauriac Marmontel became a teacher of philosophy at the Bernardine seminary at Toulouse He attracted the notice of Voltaire who advised him to go to Paris where he arrived in 1745 A tragedy produced in 1747 at once gave him celebrity An introduction to Madame de Pompadour brought him the place of secretary to her brother the Marquis de Marigny Marmontel frequented the salon of Madame Geoffrin and after the death of his friend Boissy he was given the Mercure de France After a great deal of opposition Marmontel was elected to the Academy in 1763 and in 1783 was appointed Secretary and historiographer of France He retired to Normandy at the outbreak of the revolution dying there in 1799 This model comes from an unsigned engraving dated 1765

Jean Francois Marmontel

Wedgwood

About 1790

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