Man in the Iron Mask support of the National Library of France collections of ancient textiles, the accuracy of these notary documents discovered in 2015 has allowed the creation of the first virtual reconstruction of the prison of the man in the iron mask. The Man in the Iron Mask has also appeared in many works of fiction, most prominently in the late 1840s by Alexandre Dumas. A section of his novel "", the final installment of his D'Artagnan saga, features the Man in the Iron Mask. Here the prisoner is forced to wear an iron mask and is portrayed as Louis XIV's identical twin.
Man in the Iron Mask jailers took – created significant interest in his story and gave birth to many legends. Many theories exist and several books have been written about the case. Some were presented after the existence of the letters was widely known. Still later commentators have presented their own theories, possibly based on embellished versions of the original tale. Theories about his identity popular during his time included that he was a Marshal of France; the English Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell; or François, Duke of Beaufort. Later, many people such as Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas suggested other theories about the man