Madame de Pompadour. The main objective of this slide show is to gain visual exposure to the...

Madame de Pompadour

The main objective of this slide show is to

gain visual exposure to the decorative arts

during the Rococo period

and Madame de Pompadour’s influence and

patronage.

Madame de Pompadour lived from

1721 to 1764. She was a

great patron of art and

culture while she reigned as

Louis XV’s mistress.

This is the actual dress

she wore when she sat

for her picture in the

previous slide. It

reflected the elaborate, feminine

characteristics of French

art during the 1700’s

She caught the eye of the king at a famous masked ball in Versailles in 1745. Louis was disguised as a tree during this ball.

She managed to maintain a good relationship with the Queen, Louis XV’s wife, who said “Better her,

than any other.”

Madame de Pompadour

loved beautiful objects.

This was the age of beautiful

furniture. In fact, even to this day FFF is considered the apex of art

and beauty.

Pillar mirrors (mirrors that extend down the wall) were popular. They reflected the candlelight found in the

salons of Paris and France.

Sedan chairs were carried by footmen so the aristocrat’s

feet did not get wet or muddy.

These books were owned by Madame de

Pompadour…

Madame de Pompadour

supported the Duke of Choiseul to be Foreign Minister

of France.Choiseul strongly

favored the alliance with

Austria.This alliance broke

up the alliance with Prussia,

forced Prussia to side with England,

and in the end, France lost its

colonies in the New World.

As a result, Madame de Pompadour was blamed for the

ruin of France, and the outcome of the Seven Years War.

Her legacy remains the beautiful objects and romantic inspiration of the Rococo age. The word Rococo means shell work, and clam shells

feature prominently, along with flourishes and flowers in Rococo

art work.

Remember, Rococo has an essentially Feminine feel to it.

Madame de

Pompadour wore a

cameo of Louis XV on her wrist.

Aristocratic ladies had elaborate dressing tables, called

toilettes with

beautifully crafted

objects on them.

These are Madame de Pompadour’s rooms that have been

reconstructed at

Versailles!

The gold fish became fashionable in France when the India Company sent a number of beautiful fish to Madame de Pompadour, in 1750.

She used to keep the red fishes into jugs made of glass or porcelain on the mantelpieces as well as on the windowsills of Versailles.

A glass pattern created in France and promoted by a clever publicity operation. It was said that it was molded on Madame de Pompadour’s breast.

Maybe for this legend people sometimes drink champagne in this kind of glasses.

She ceased to be Louis’ mistress, but remained his trusted friend. She died of Tuberculosis at age

42.

She supported

some of the greatest

minds of the

Enlightenment.

Hated by the French people,

she was nonetheless a symbol of the

age. Her patronage of the arts left a

glorious cultural legacy to France.

The main objective of this slide show was to gain visual exposure to the decorative arts

during the Rococo period and Madame de

Pompadour’s influence and

patronage.