Comparatism and Oriental Idolatries in Cérémonies religieuses by Bernard and Picart (1723-1737)

The Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde, published by Jean-Frédéric Bernard between 1723 and 1737 in 7 folio volumes, with a magnificent set of engravings by Bernard Picart, are the most important work concerning the comparative view of religions produced by the European culture during the eighteenth century. The intellectual tensions which are typical of the age of the “crisis of the European conscience” stand out in this work particularly through the analytical observation of the various characters of the non-European religions, showing an heterodox attitude inside the framework of Protestant culture. The topic of the essay is to focus on the observation of Asiatic religions, which is the result of an extensive use of all the sources of information available at that time – particularly travel reports and missionary writings – and shows significant implications with critical themes of the first Age of Enlightenment, such as mainly that of toleration.