Madame de Pompadour

French noblewoman

• Born: December 29, 1721
• Birthplace: Paris, France
• Died: April 15, 1764
• Place of death: Versailles, France

As the powerful official mistress and confidante of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour influenced French governmental affairs, both domestic and international. She was a dedicated patron of the arts and literature, and she promoted the planning and building of splendid palaces and pavilions.

Early Life

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, later known as Madame de Pompadour (pohm-pah-dewr), was born into a bourgeois family, the first child of Louise-Madeleine de La Motte and François Poisson, a military purchasing agent. Poisson was employed by the powerful Paris brothers, Paris-Duverney and Paris de Montmartel, who were government bankers. Paris de Montmartel was also Jeanne-Antoinette’s godfather. In 1726, when Jeanne-Antoinette was five, her father was accused of black market wheat speculation, contributing to a famine in Paris, and had to flee the country. He remained in exile for the next ten years.

While her father was in exile, Poisson’s mother received financial advice and support from Le Normant de Tournehem, a wealthy widower, financier, and tax farmer. Many believed that he was Jeanne-Antoinette’s biological father, and he acted as her protector and guardian. From 1726 to 1729, she attended the Convent of the Ursuline Order. In 1730, the famous fortune-teller, Madame LeBon, predicted that the nine-year-old Jeanne-Antoinette would someday be the mistress of King Louis XV.

In 1725, at the age of fifteen, the king had married the twenty-two-year-old Polish princess Marie Leszczyński. By all accounts, the king remained faithful to the queen for ten years, and they had ten children. However, Jeanne-Antoinette and her mother believed the fortune-teller’s prophecy. From 1731 to 1741, with financial help from Le Normant de Tournehem, Jeanne-Antoinette received the best education and prepared for life in high society. She studied singing, acting, dancing, the harpsichord, embroidery, the art of conversation, and literature. Visiting the estates of her guardian and wealthy friends, Jeanne-Antoinette became known for her remarkable intelligence, wit, and beauty. She met Voltaire, who became her friend and admirer.

Life’s Work

Le Normant de Tournehem arranged for Poisson to marry his nephew, Charles-Guillaume Le Normant d’Étioles, on March 9, 1741. She became Madame d’Étioles, and on December 26, their first son was born, but he only lived a few months. A daughter, Alessandrina, was born in 1744. From 1741 to 1744, Madame d’Étioles befriended many aristocrats, who introduced her to the leading scientists and artists of the time.

By this time, Louis XV and the queen had agreed upon a nonintimate relationship, and he had had numerous mistresses. In 1744, the king’s then-current mistress, the duchess de Chateauroux, died suddenly. In February, 1745, Madame d’Étioles met the king at a masked ball celebrating his son’s wedding. By June, the king had decided that she would become his declared mistress. However, she was a member of the bourgeoisie and had no title, making it impossible for her to be presented at court. Louis purchased the estate of the marquisate of Pompadour and Madame d’Étioles became the newly created marquise de Pompadour, or Madame de Pompadour. She obtained a legal separation from her husband. In September, she was introduced to the court at Versailles and became the official mistress of Louis XV, which she remained from 1745 to 1750, when the king tired of her and found other mistresses. However, Madame de Pompadour remained powerful and was the king’s friend and confidante until her death in 1764.

At Versailles, Madame de Pompadour organized private theater performances and parties for the king, who preferred small, informal gatherings to pageantry in his apartments. During these two decades, she was adept at political manipulation, providing favors and promotions for trusted friends, and removing her enemies from positions of power. She had the authority to appoint and dismiss generals and ministers, and she supported the appointment of Étienne François de Choiseul, duc de Choiseul, as the ambassador to Vienna in 1757 and then as foreign minister from 1758-1770. Choiseul, however, helped maintain France’s alliance with Austria, which kept France in the costly Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), resulting in Britain acquiring most of France’s overseas possessions, including Canada.

Madame de Pompadour also encouraged the king to construct new buildings and gardens and to renovate existing structures. In 1751, she selected Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698-1782) to design a military school, the École Militaire, Paris. Gabriel became the principal royal architect, and over the course of forty years, his designs included the Château de Compiègne and the Louis XV Square (later called the Place de la Concorde). He also directed the regular remodeling of the interiors of the Petit Trianon, Versailles, and the Royal Opera. His long career followed the transition from the floral rococo or “Pompadour” style to neoclassicism.

Madame de Pompadour was a generous patron of the arts. A competent engraver and etcher herself, she sponsored the best painters, including François Boucher, Charles Vanloo, Jean-Baptiste Oudray, Maurice Quentin de la Tour, and Joseph Vernet. She also supported sculptors, such as Jean-Marie Falconet, Guillaume Coustou, Adam Lambert, and Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. She commissioned portraits and sculptures of herself to create her desired public persona. For instance, in 1752, Jean-Marc Nattier painted a portrait of her as the goddess Diana. In 1756, Madame de Pompadour’s favorite painter, Boucher, portrayed her as an elegant intellectual, with a book in her hand, a writing table nearby, and a bookcase in the background.

Although her public image was carefully constructed, Madame de Pompadour actually was an enthusiastic advocate of literature and writers. She promoted her friend, the celebrated Voltaire, who became historiographer to the king in 1745. She associated with numerous intellectuals, including Bernard Fontenelle, secretary of the Academy of Letters; the mathematician and philosopher Denis Diderot; and the historian Charles Duclos. Madame de Pompadour also defended the 1751 publication of the Encyclopédie: Ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts, et des métiers (1751-1772; Encyclopedia, 1965) by Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert. She also supported French furniture makers such as Pierre Migeon, the cabinet maker who was also a dealer for other craftsmen. In 1754, Jean François Oeben came under the protection of Madame de Pompadour and was appointed the royal cabinet maker. In 1756, she helped establish the pottery factory at Sèvres, which became the Royal Manufactures in 1760.

On April 15, 1764, Madame Pompadour died, and on April 17 she was buried in the Chapel of the Capuchin Friars in Place Vendôme. Ten years later, on May 10, 1774, Louis XV died.

Significance

Madame de Pompadour was the first French royal mistress to come from the bourgeois class, and she became one of the most famous and powerful women in French history. Her influence on politics and the arts extended well beyond her own era. Many blamed her for France’s participation in the Seven Years’ War, which greatly reduced France’s colonial empire and the royal treasury. The expenses of war and the court extravagances encouraged by Madame de Pompadour depleted the government’s financial resources. These economic problems were a major cause of the French Revolution during the reign of Louis XVI.

However, many of the splendid works or buildings promoted by Madame de Pompadour survive into the twenty-first century. Her Paris mansion, the Elysée, became France’s presidential palace. The Petit Trianon, Place de la Concorde (formerly Louis XV square and home of the infamous guillotine), and the École Militaire are popular tourist attractions.

Madame de Pompadour’s patronage of the fine arts, literature, the decorative arts, and furniture design resulted in some of the most notable accomplishments and masterpieces in those areas. Her “pompadour” hairstyle, in which hair is rolled or brushed back away from the forehead, was a popular style for both women and men in the early twentieth century.

Bibliography

Algrant, Christine Pevitt. Madame de Pompadour: Mistress of France. New York: Grove Press, 2002. This comprehensive biography describes Madame de Pompadour’s role as a patron of the arts and emphasizes her political power and schemes. Large sections examine her ambition, Louis XV’s dependence on her advice, and her role as prime minister. Extensive bibliography, color plates, and index.

Goodman, Elise. The Portraits of Madame de Pompadour: Celebrating the Femme Savante. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. This innovative study concludes that many of her portraits represent feminine intellect as well as beauty. Illustrations, bibliography, notes, and index.

Hunter-Stiebel, Penelope. Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour: A Love Affair with Style. New York: Rosenberg & Stiebel, 1990. Catalog of exhibitions held in Memphis, Tennessee (1990), and in New York (1990). The exhibits included objects and artwork of the decorative rocaille or rococo style that was favored by Madame de Pompadour and the king. Illustrations and bibliography.

Jones, Colin. Madame de Pompadour: Images of a Mistress. London: National Gallery, 2002. This beautifully illustrated biography was published to accompany an exhibition at the National Gallery. The book examines how Madame de Pompadour commissioned the best artists to promote and diversify her image. Color plates, chronology, extensive chapter notes, and bibliography.

Lever, Evelyne. Madame de Pompadour: A Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. This general portrait covers her rise to power, personality, art patronage, political scheming, and relationship with the king and others. Illustrations, bibliography, and index.

Mitford, Nancy. Madame de Pompadour. New York: New York Review of Books, 2001. This entertaining biography provides detailed historical context, including fashion, customs, the nobility, manners, and genealogy. Illustrated. Bibliography.