Toilet of Venus

Boucher's Toilet of Venus from 1743 is one of his most important mythological canvases, depicting Venus at her dressing table attended by Cupids and doves. The subject — the goddess of love adorning herself with the assistance of putti — was a classical topos that Boucher transformed into his own quintessentially Rococo vision of femininity, luxury, and sensual pleasure. The painting was acquired by Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's mistress and Boucher's most important patron, for whom Venus subjects with their connotations of love, beauty, and feminine power had particular personal resonance.

The composition organizes Venus's alabaster form against an opulent interior of pink draperies and glittering objects — mirrors, pearls, shells — attended by playful Cupids. Boucher's signature warm flesh tones, creamy whites, and deep rose draperies achieve their most opulent expression in this celebrated canvas.