Until 27 September, the Duke’s Library of the Rundāle Palace Museum will host a one-painting exhibition, namely, the piece Voltaire’s Last Supper (ca. 1772) by the Swiss artist Jean Huber (1721–1786), deposited from the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford.
The artist has depicted, in a witty and provocative composition, the most outstanding French Enlightenment thinkers in the style of the religious scene Last Supper. Voltaire stands in the middle of the painting, depicted as a symbolic reference to Christ and His disciples. The majority of the persons depicted were linked to one of the most significant intellectual projects of the 18th century, namely, the ambitious drafting of entries and publishing of the Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Crafts.
The message of the work is clear and daring: knowledge, reason, and science in the Enlightenment period become a new public value system. Although the persons and place depicted in the painting are real, the scene is allegorical and full of symbols.
A special place has been chosen for the exhibition, namely, the Duke’s Library of Rundāle Palace. Peter, Duke of Courland and Semigallia, was a passionate supporter of the Enlightenment ideas and accumulated works of Voltaire, Diderot, and other thinkers of the time in his library. The founding of Academia Petrina in Jelgava in 1775 – the first higher education institution in the territory of Latvia – was the culmination of his attempts of promoting education and spreading knowledge. The exhibition forms a symbolic link between the European Enlightenment centre and the culture and education space of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia.
The exhibition is open in the Duke’s Library of Rundāle Palace until 27 September 2026.
Jean Huber
Voltaire’s Last Supper
Canvas, oil, ca. 1772
Deposit from the Voltaire Foundation (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)