About this artwork

This half length portrait shows the sumptuously dressed mistress of Louis XV reclining elegantly on a couch. Her celebrated beauty is offset by the flowers, ribbons, lace and jewels of her costume, while her considerable intellectual interests are hinted at through the inclusion of the book and her writing desk. Boucher painted a series of portraits of Madame de Pompadour, born Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, who became one of the most influential and powerful figures of the French court. This painting is based on a larger full-length portrait completed by Boucher in 1756, now in the Alte Pinacotech, Munich.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Unknown
  • title:
    Madame de Pompadour (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, 1721 - 1764)
  • date created:
    1756 or later
  • after:
    François Boucher (1703 - 1770) French
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    Image: 36.20 x 44.50 cm; Canvas: 37.90 x 46.30 cm; Framed: 56.20 x 64.20 x 8.50 cm / 8.00 kg
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequest of Lady Murray of Henderland 1861
  • accession number:
    NG 429
  • gallery:
  • depicted:
  • subject:
  • glossary:
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