Oval miniature portrait painting of the acclaimed French Enlightenment author Voltaire (1694-1778), showing him in one of his favourite poses: sitting with a book in his hand in front of a bookcase. The portrait has a dated signature on the back "J. de Cerf A[nn]o 1687", seven years before Voltaire was born! A modern note on the back suggests that the artist is the obscure painter Louis Le Cerf, who worked in Grenoble around 1735.
The portrait itself is in very good condition, but the frame has lost most of its gilding.