novel Malvina, or the Heart's Intuition (1816; English translation 2001, by Ursula Phillips), it is said that a view that is being described merits the talent of Vernet, who as the writer explains in her own footnote was a whale painter. Vernet's Tempête ("Storm") was commissioned from him in 1767 by French Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot (1713 – 1784), payment for which was made in two installments each of 600 livres. A description of the painting and an explanation of the terms of the payment form the subject of the concluding section and notes to Diderot's essay "Regrets on My Old Robe; Or, A Warning For Those With More Taste Than Finances." References External links Life and works of Vernet (Théodore Gégoux art gallery) C. J. Vernet online (Artcyclopedia) 1714 births 1789 deaths 18th-century French painters French landscape painters French male painters French marine artists Artists from Avignon 18th-century French male artists