Abstract: In 1845 Renan studied Madame de Staël's De l'Allemagne. This work brought him closer to romanticism, influencing his literary tastes, his philosophy, his poetic and linguistic theories. He discovered there a philosophical affinity with Herder and he rediscovered himself in Faust, the personification of incredulity and of a desire for knowledge pushed to the point of perversion. This is the reason why De l’Allemagne can be considered among the stimuli for the abandonment of Saint Sulpice.
