Madame du Pompadour by Francois Boucher
The pleasure of love is in loving. Francois de la Rochefoucauld (1613-80)
Author Carolyn McDowall
French painter François Boucher (1703-1770) produced many of the images that we have of the enigmatic Jeanne Antoinette, Marquise de Pompadour, Maîtresse-en-titre, or the official Mistress of Louis XV of France.
The daughter of a local beauty, Louise-Madeleine de la Motte and her husband François Poisson, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was born at Paris in 1720 when it was really little more than an overgrown village bearing little resemblance to the city we know to-day.
The narrow streets were noisy and dirty and if it rained you could not walk in the street without getting mud up to your knees.
Her father was a jolly fellow and bore the brunt of all the jokes about their name, which meant fish. A steward to the Paris brothers, who were in charge of the economy of France, he was the scapegoat in a black market scandal and forced to flee to Germany where he remained in exile for nine years.
Her mother, a reputed beauty, was rescued from her misfortunes by M. Le Normant de Tournehem one time ambassador to Sweden, a Director of the Compagnie des Indes, collector of indirect taxes and friend of the Paris brothers.
Jeanne-Antoinette, together with her brother Abel, was educated by de Tournehem. When she was nine her mother had her fortune told and she learned she was destined to reign over the heart of a king. Following that her family playfully called her Reinette and set about ensuring she received a worldly education under the watchful eye of de Tournehem.
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You may care to read Women of Influence – Diane de Poitiers and Women of Influence – Angelica Kauffman
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