'Madame de Pompadour': François Boucher's Portrait of Energy

Madame de Pompadour was an influence to be reckoned with through the reign of her lover, the French king Louis XV. Born Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, she rose by way of the proverbial ranks on the court docket of Versailles beginning in 1745, when the king first ennobled her, and he or she stayed indispensable to Louis lengthy after the eagerness seemingly died down round 1750. One of many 18th century’s nice tastemakers, she was additionally an eminence grise, managing entry to the crown at dwelling whereas fixing up alliances overseas. And he or she remains to be exerting energy—or somewhat, her portrait is—at Munich’s Alte Pinakothek museum.