''Mystification'' or ''l'Histoire des portraits'' is an unfinished work from 1768 by

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...

. It was published in 1951. A second edition in 1954 by Pierre Daix, annotated by Yves Benot was illustrated with four sketches by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, for Les Éditeurs français réunis. A film based on the work was directed by

Sandrine Rinaldi Sandrine is a popular French female name. It is a diminutive form of Sandra, a shortened form of Alexandra, the female version of Alexander, which means ''Protector of Men''. There are variants such as ''Sandrilene''. People * Sandrine (singer), ...

in 2005.

Plot

The story is based on a true story in which Diderot was also involved. The Russian Ambassador to France, Prince

Dmitri Alekseyevich Gallitzin Prince Dmitri Alexeievich Gallitzin FRS (21 December 1728 – 16 March 1803) was a Russian diplomat, art agent, author, volcanologist and mineralogist. By birth he was a member of an ancient House of Golitsyn. He was a supporter of the recogn ...

, wanted to marry the 19-year-old Amalie von Schmettau, but had given his former mistress Mlle d'Ornet (in Diderot spelled "Mlle Dornet") several portraits, which he wanted to retrieve before his marriage. The scene takes place in the Paris studio of the Prussian painter Anna Dorothea Therbusch (in Diderot spelled "Mme Therbouche"), where present are the painter, then Miss Dornet, who reclines ill on a sofa, a certain Bonvalet-Desbrosses, allegedly a Turkish doctor, and Diderot himself. The Prince, who is not present, has made use of the artist, the author and the doctor to diagnose to his former mistress that she can only be healthy when she separates herself from the mementos of her lover.Julia Luisa Abramson - ''Learning from Lying: Paradoxes of the Literary Mystification'' 2005 0874139007 Page 36 "When Prince Dimitri Gallitzin (1735-1803), Catherine the Great's ambassador to France, requested Diderot's help in reclaiming portraits from a former mistress named Mlle Dornet, the resulting negotiation inspired the convoluted plot ." The narrative is deliberately unfinished, according to the author, because of the interruption of the project due to the death of Bonvalet-Desbrosses.

References

1768 novels Novels by Denis Diderot French philosophical novels Novels set in Paris Satirical novels French novels adapted into films Unfinished novels Novels published posthumously {{satirical-novel-stub