As admired as he was controversial, Sade is a doubly scandalous figure: through his actions and his writings, veritable catalogues of sexual perversions. Imprisoned in the 18th century, vilified, condemned to clandestine publications, "the divine marquis" has become synonymous with a condemned sexual practice: sadism. Sade, however, would be partially rehabilitated, would greatly influence French intellectuals, and would be lauded by the greatest figures: from Baudelaire to Giacometti, from Pasolini
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