Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), Mistress of Louis XV

Madame de Pompadour from 1758 at the V&A shows Louis XV's famous mistress. Boucher was Pompadour's favored painter, and his portraits of her defined her public image as the embodiment of Rococo taste and culture. Boucher's portraiture matches his decorative subjects in its emphasis on elegance and surface charm, deploying his characteristic soft palette to flatter sitters with an air of effortless aristocratic grace. His portraits of Madame de Pompadour are among the most celebrated images of...

The portrait presents the famous patron with characteristic Rococo elegance. Boucher's handling of the elaborate costume and setting creates a definitive image of 18th-century feminine power.