New exhibition shines a spotlight on Voltaire's influence on Estonia's cultural history
A new exhibition in Tartu explores the influence of French culture and the writer and philosopher Voltaire on Estonia's cultural history and features artworks never displayed in the region before.
The exhibition showcases rare items from French collections held in museums and libraries in Estonia, Latvia, France and the United Kingdom, including books, manuscripts, artworks and archival materials.
The objects shine a spotlight on previously overlooked intellectual connections between the Baltic region and Western European Enlightenment thought from the 18th century onwards.
Curator Sophie Turner says the exhibition highlights French cultural heritage in Estonia and examines the connections between European cultures – particularly French and German.
"An original letter of Voltaire's, rare printed works and artworks show how French culture reached this region and became intertwined with its cultural and educational landscape," she said.
"The exhibition is an invitation to discover and reflect on what these works are, how they ended up in Estonia and what they tell us."
Estonian debut
At the heart of the exhibition is the painting 'La Sainte Cène du Patriarche' by Voltaire's close friend, the artist Jean Huber, which shows this major Enlightenment figure through the eyes of a contemporary.
The artwork is on loan from The Voltaire Foundation, a research centre and publishing house in the United Kingdom, and is being exhibited in Estonia for the first time.
"The exhibition also focuses on broader questions," Turner added: "How Voltaire, a French Enlightenment philosopher, in his fight against fanaticism and steadfast defence of tolerance, spoke to the Estonian intelligentsia two centuries later, and why he became a symbol of satire, critical thought and cultural modernity once again in the 1920s and 1930s."
These themes are further explored through stage designs by Leida Klaus and Uno Martin, productions by Hilda Gleser and works from the personal libraries of Betti Alver and Mart Lepik.
A broader European context is provided by French engravings from the National Library of Latvia, which form part of one of the most important foreign art collections in the Baltic region.
'Voltaire: Making History' was produced in cooperation with the French Institute, the Goethe-Institut and the French Embassy in Estonia.
The exhibition launched on November 22 and will remain open at the University of Tartu Art Museum until May 17, 2026.
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Editor: Helen Wright
