In 1789, The Emblems of Reason, Jean Starobinski scrutinises the events of History. In its escape from pure rationality, vision’s capacity for invention, which we will call bizarre, allows for the comparison between the Revolution’s progress and the experience of light. Which leads to the exploration of a light and shadow performance, Robertson’s Phantasmagoria, while his career puts in question the divide between art and science and involves History and its interpretation.