Art History Series: Madame de Pompadour as Diana The Huntress

Madame de Pompadour as Diana the Huntress

Madame de Pompadour as Diana – Goddess of the Hunt

After receiving her title and being formally presented at court in September 1745, Madame de Pompadour posed as Diana for the then-famous portraitist Jean-Marc Nattier, marking the beginning of her influence in the art world. She was the first lady to use paintings and other forms of art for something like personal propaganda and to impose her image as a dignified and intelligent figure in the king's retinue. The portrait was commissioned by Le Normand de Tourneheme (her guardian) in 1746 and the Marquise subsequently gave it to her brother, who kept it until his death. Years later, it fell into the collection of the Château de Versailles and now adorns the restored rooms of Madame de Pompadour.

The painting was keeping with the taste of its time and was received with great enthusiasm by the public. Despite the prying eyes, the figure is both decently dressed but with hinted shapes for the lovely figure below. The choice of theme comes from the meeting of the King and the Marquise during his hunt, as well as re-enforcing her Yew Tree Ball costume. The symbols around are not obtrusive, but on the contrary quite clear - bow, leather and arrows. Later there are numerous cases in which she is associated with this particular image. Young, ambitious and a little wild, but also her gentle look emphasizes her femininity and the blue color she chose gives an additional slight touch of high culture, power, as well as in rare cases blue was associated with the heavens and in this case shows her pure intentions. I wish you will be able to see this beauty one day!

Regards,

Julia

#ladureena #arthistory #learnwithme #madamedepompadour #kinglouisxv #versailles #chateaudeversailles #painting #classicalpainting #jeanmarcnattier #nattier #diana #goddessdiana #antiquity #classicalart

Art History Series: The Apartments of Madame de Pompadour

Apartments of Madame de Pompadour, current room in Château de Versailles

As early as March 1745, shortly after the Yew Tree Ball and the official beginning of the relationship between Louis XV and the future Madame Pompadour, she was already living in apartments located above the rooms of Mars, Mercury and Apollo in the Chateau of Versailles. One cannot talk about her without mentioning the Rococo style, which is evident in her rooms. The curved lines of the furniture, soft pastel colours and wonderful damasks everywhere give a feeling of elegance, freedom and lightness. In the apartments in their current form at Versailles, we can find four rooms in a row, unfortunately their current form is a guess, since nothing has been preserved from the representative rooms. What we do know, however, is that her room always smelled of wonderful perfumes, and it was said that even 20 years later, they could still be sensed. The King's previous mistress also owned a “flying chair”, a sort of small lift to save herself the stairs to her apartment, which Madame Pompadour also used until she renovated her apartment and took the mechanism to Fontainebleau.

After 1750, when she ceased to be the king's mistress due to physical reasons and her frail health, instead of sending her out of the palace, the king continued to show her closeness as his friend and advisor, and she moved to another apartment on the ground floor of the palace where her style and taste remain evident. This apartment was in the part of the palace reserved for the royal family across those of the king's daughters, which was not easy given the daughters' open hostility towards her.

Unlike the intimate previous one, this one spans a total of six large rooms, unusually for historical apartments, the service rooms have remained relatively intact including clothing cabinet as well as the room of Madame Hausett - the Marquise's lady-in-waiting. Bathed in sunlight and a magnificent view, this apartment indicated her high status as well as allowing easy access to the important figures with whom she interacted. The walls were in pastel green and pink, suited perfectly with the furniture in the same colors, and one room - extremely intimate - the Red Chamber was covered with an exotic red Chinese lacquer and this is the room in which she consulted with the king.  In this apartment she had enough space to store her vast library and collection of art and porcelain figures.

Madame de Pompadour loved perfume and it was said that her rooms were always scented and that her choice of scents could still be smelled twenty years after she had left the rooms.

Regards,

Julia

Apartments of Madame de Pompadour, current view at Château de Versailles pt.2

Madame de Pompadour's current apartments at Château de Versailles pt.3

#ladureena #learnwithme #arthistory #madamedepompadour #kinglouisxv #versailles #rococo

Art History Series: The Yew Tree Ball, 24th February, 1745

The Yew Tree Ball, 24th February, 1745

This famous masked ball was put on for the marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of Louis XV to Maria Teresa Rafaela, Infanta of Spain, daughter of Philippe V.

The extravagant ball takes place in the Hall of Mirrors starting at 11:30 and ending at 8:30. Hundreds of carriages are heading to the palace, lit up for the occasion. The masked guests arrive without needing an invitation and congregate in the Hercules Room, where a massive crowd of 1,500 await the doors of the King's State apartments to open to mark the beginning of the ball. Meanwhile, guests were treated to wonderful buffets of fish dishes, observing the lent, cakes, fruit pyramids, sweets, wines and liqueurs.

To the surprise of the guests, when the doors opened only the Queen appears, followed by the Dauphin and the Dauphine dressed in spring costumes (some say Shepherd and Shepherdess, others Gardener and Florist). After the death of the King’s last official mistress all ladies were excited to succeed her in her role. The court was rife with rumours about the meeting of the king with a lesser known lady and carnival season was the perfect time to settle the matter. During the course of the ball, 8 yew trees appear and one of them is revealed as the king in conversation with the future Madame Pompadour, here dressed as Diana (the goddess of the hunt), later in time formally presented to the royal court.

The painting is a donation to the king from Charles-Nicolas Cochin II.

Regards,

Julia

Invitation to the Yew Tree Ball, 1745

#ladureena #learnwithme #arthistory #history #versailles #kinglouisxv #madamedepompadour #madamepompadour #fashion #art #painting