Madame de Pompadour 1756

‘Every day, I wish to make the world more beautiful than I found it.’ – Madame de Pompadour Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) is best known as the official mistress of King Louis XV, from 1745 until her untimely death in 1764. But did you know, she was also a keen patron of the arts and an influential presence at court? 🎨 Pompadour was a key advocate of the Rococo style, which dominated art, architecture and interior design in early eighteenth-century France. Rococo often included natural motifs and elaborate, asymmetrical patterns. Take a look at the ornate furniture which surrounds the central figure! 🪑 In this extravagant portrait from 1756, Madame de Pompadour is depicted by the celebrated French painter François Boucher (1703-1770). Boucher shows Pompadour lounging in a richly detailed interior. She wears a sumptuous dress of vibrant green silk, embellished with delicate pink bows and pink roses. These colours were commonly associated with femininity and natural beauty. 🎀 What do you think Boucher is trying to tell the viewer about Madame de Pompadour in this painting? Here, Boucher builds a positive public identity for the figure. He has filled the composition with symbols of intellect. Notice the feather quill which emerges from the open drawer to the right of Pompadour. Alongside the open book, pens, and music sheets which are dotted around the scene, this clearly references Madame de Pompadour’s impressive education and her interest in the intellectual movement of Enlightenment. 📚 Boucher has also included a small dog, which sits in the left foreground of the painting. The dog is a traditional symbol of trust, loyalty, and fidelity which perhaps indicates Pompadour’s close relationship to the King. 🐕 Editor: Lucy Jude Grantham