Portrait of Donatien Alphonse François de Sade by Charles Amédée Philippe van Loo. The drawing dates to 1760, when de Sade was nearly 20 years old. It’s the only known authentic portrait of the Marquis.

Marquis de Sade

– auction at Drouot in Paris

Visited by Henning Høholt

PARIS/FRANCE: “Every thing happens in Paris”. 15th June an auction of assets, as the heirs of the Marquis de Sade has posted at the auction house Drouot in Paris was auctioned

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We hereby present a photo presentation of the goods.

Interior idea from the cell of Marquis de Sade, which is being auctioned today at Drouot, Paris. Foto Henning Høholt

Wikipedia tells about Marquis de Sade: 

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) (French: [maʁki də sad]), was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts; in his lifetime some were published under his own name, while others appeared anonymously and de Sade denied being their author
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De Sade is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, criminality, and blasphemy against the Catholic Church
. He was a proponent of extreme freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion, or law. The words sadism and sadist are derived from his name.

De Sade was incarcerated in various prisons and an insane asylum for about 32 years of his life: 11 years in Paris (10 of which were spent in the Bastille), a month in the Conciergerie, two years in a fortress, a year in Madelonnettes Convent, three years in Bicêtre Hospital, a year in Sainte-Pélagie Prison, and 13 years in the Charenton asylum. During the French Revolution he was an elected delegate to the National Convention. Many of his works were written in prison.