Rousseau quotes

The Ramsay portrait. This great portrait of Rousseau is by the Scottish painter Allan Ramsay (1713-1784). Rousseau is in Armenian costume: note the position of the index finger, pointing to the heart.

He sat for the portrait in London in 1766.

Rousseau human nature

After the condemnation of Emile in 1762, Rousseau had fled to Switzerland and settled in Môtiers, near Neuchâtel, then briefly on the île St-Pierre in the lake of Bienne. Driven out by the government of Berne, which controlled the island, he sought refuge in England at the invitation of the philosopher and historian David Hume.

Ramsay and Hume were friends, and Ramsay painted a companion portait of Hume, showing his firend as a prosperous man of the world. The contrast between the two portraits has given rise to different interpretations. Clearly, Hume is the philosopher in society, while Rousseau is the philosopher who flees from or is driven out of society.

After that, every viewer must make his or her own judgement of the painter