Portrait of Denis Diderot

Portrait of Denis Diderot is a 1767 portrait painting by the French artist Louis-Michel van Loo. Rococo in style, it depicts the philosopher, writer and art critic Denis Diderot, a significant figure in the Age of Enlightenment in Ancien régime France.^[1] It was common in the eighteenth century for writers to be portrayed in dressing gowns to indicate their literary interests.^[2]

Portrait of Denis Diderot
Artist	Louis-Michel van Loo
Year	1767
Type	Oil on canvas, portrait painting
Dimensions	81 cm × 65 cm (32 in × 26 in)
Location	Louvre, Paris

Diderot himself strongly disliked the painting.^[3][4] He said he had been made to look like an old cocotte who was still trying to be agreeable." ^[5] It was exhibited at the Salon of 1767 at the Louvre in Paris, which Diderot wrote about extensively.^[6] Today it is in the collection of the Louvre, having been acquired in 1911.^[7]