This article aims to analyse Voltaire’s literary judgements both in the Letters concerning the English Nation (1733) and in the Lettres écrites de Londres sur les Anglais et autres sujets (1734). Letters XVIII to XXIV deal with various aspects of the fine arts. Our study focuses on the differences and analogies between the two versions and also refers to the modern English translations which, by contrast, bring out the specificity of the English text published in 1733. The creative activity of the translator (in this case John Lockman) manifests itself as an extension of certain figures of rhetoric, in particular those of brevitas (brevity) and amplificatio (emphasis). The English translation of 1733 most often uses emphasis to underline the illocutionary force of the text. Because of the political context, Voltaire had to take into account censorship in France and downplayed the audacity of his message in French, which was given free rein in the 1733 English version. On the other hand, his judgements respected the criteria of what was considered “good taste” at the time. Although he appreciated the genius of English writers, he often spoke in favour of the restraint of French masterpieces, which, born in the context of a “court society,” were constructed through allusive speech and innuendo, in opposition to English writers who did not shy away from expressing the harshness of reality. The enarrative voice of the translator of 1733 tends to intensify Voltaire’s judgments and tailors his expressive choices to an English audience. The modern translations (Dilworth (1961); Tancock (1981); Steiner (2007), based on the Jore/Lanson edition (1909)) remain faithful to the assessments of the Lettres philosophiques (1734) in an enunciation that softens the illocutionary force of the initial English version, in which Voltaire’s thinking with respect to both his critical and favourable judgements was sharpened.