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Articles on The Enlightenment

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Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s ‘Napoleon.’ Napoleon was a prolific legislator who sponsored the Civil Code, later known as the Napoleonic Code. (Apple TV+)

Napoleon the lawmaker: What Ridley Scott’s film leaves out

Ridley Scott’s focus on Napoleon’s tactical triumphs, reckless miscalculations and sexual entanglements neglects his paradoxical legacy as a lawmaker.
The detail of the demon in Sir Joshua Reynolds’ painting The Death of Cardinal Beaufort was revealed after extensive cleaning. Petworth House / National Trust

Restorers uncover demon in a 1789 painting – and reveal the decline of superstition in the Age of Reason

The Enlightenment saw science and rational thought replace the religious superstitions of the previous century, and demons became metaphors for the human struggle between good and evil.

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