What is François Tronchin?
'''François Tronchin''' (23 October 1704 – 7 February 1798) was a [[Switzerland|Swiss]] lawyer, banker, and collector. He knew many artists, [[Jean-Pierre Saint-Ours]], [[Joseph Vernet]], [[Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville|Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]], [[Étienne-Maurice Falconet]], [[:fr:Nicolas_Henri_Joseph_de_Fassin|Nicolas Henri Joseph de Fassin]], and philosophers, [[Voltaire]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFU0CgAAQBAJ&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Tronchin&pg=PT238|title=Voltaire|last=Davidson|first=Ian|date=2012-03-12|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-68177-039-0|language=en}}</ref> [[Denis Diderot]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=l'Art|first=La Tribune de|date=2020-09-27|title=François Tronchin (1704-1798) : collection et documents d'archives|url=https://www.latribunedelart.com/francois-tronchin-1704-1798-collection-et-documents-d-archives|access-date=2020-09-27|website=La Tribune de l'Art|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t58ZAAAAYAAJ&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Tronchin&pg=PA396|title=Le conseiller François Tronchin et ses amis: Voltaire, Diderot, Grimm, etc. d'après des documents inédits|last=Tronchin|first=Henry|date=1895|publisher=E. Plon, Nourrit|language=fr}}</ref> and [[Melchior Grimm]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LHVNAAAAMAAJ&q=Fran%C3%A7ois+Tronchin|title=Diderot's Friend Melchior Grimm|last=Heller|first=Lane Murch|date=1958|publisher=University of Wisconsin|language=en}}</ref> He sold many paintings in his collection to [[Catherine II of Russia]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collections Online {{!}} British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG199367|access-date=2020-09-27|website=www.britishmuseum.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjmT1wP-9jwC&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Tronchin&pg=PA15|title=Russian Genre Painting in the Nineteenth Century|last1=Gray|first1=Rosalind P.|last2=Gray|first2=Rosalind P.|last3=Blakesley|first3=Rosalind Polly|date=2000|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-82087