? MADAME DE POMPADADOUR ?
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Jeanne Antoinette Poisson ~ Madame de Pompadour ~ was the mistress, friend and advisor to Louis XV.
She remained with him, until her death in 1764.
Introduced in the Court by well-placed connections, she caught the King’s eye and soon became his official mistress.
For her Louis XV commissioned the Petit Trianon, which became a private haven of peace.
Jeanne was born in Paris, on 29th December 1721, to François Poisson and his wife Madeleine de la Motte.
At age 5 Jeanne Antoinette was sent to receive the finest quality education of the day in a convent in Poissy, where she gained admiration for her wit and charm.
During this time, her mother took her to a fortuneteller, Madame de Lebon, who predicted that the girl would one day reign over the heart of a king.
Henceforth she became known as Reinette, meaning “little queen”
At the age of nineteen, Jeanne was married to Charles Guillame Le Normant d’Étiolles on 15th December 1740.
Le Normant d’Étiolles was passionately in love with his wife.
The couple had a son who died in infancy and a daughter, Alexandrine, born in 1744, who died at the age of nine.
In 1745, Jeanne was invited to the great masked ball, held to celebrate the marriage of the Dauphin Louis Ferdinand.
Here, she caught the eye of King Louis XV, and he was immediately smitten.
Later that same year, he brought her to the Palace of Versailles, providing her with an apartment just above his own.
A secret staircase allowed the monarch to access his mistress’s apartment, without being seen.
In July he presented her with the Pompadour Estate, and made her a Marquise, officially presenting her to the Court in September 1745.
Madame de Pompadour had a fondness for truffle soup, chocolate and champagne, but she wasn’t a silly airhead, she was also just as keen to nourish her intellect.
Her bourgeois, non-aristocratic roots however, soon drew harsh criticism from certain members of the nobility.
During the 1750s Jeanne ceased to be the King’s mistress, but retained considerable influence over the monarch, and they remained the closest of friends.
After moving to the ground floor of the main wing of Versailles in 1751, her role changed from that of mistress to confidante.
Jeanne oversaw new construction projects, and busied herself primarily with her patronage of the arts.
In 1756 Jeanne lent her support to the creation of Place Louis XV, now known as Place de la Concorde.
Jeanne also persuaded the king, to build the Petit Trianon on the grounds of Versailles.
Two years later, in 1753, Louis XV purchased the Hôtel d’Evreux – now known as the Elysée Palace ~ for her to use as a place to stay while visiting Paris.
Louis XV remained devoted to Jeanne, until her death from tuberculosis in 1764, at the age of forty-two.
Louis had even nursed her through her illness.
Even her enemies admired her courage, during the final painful weeks.
The King was greatly affected by the end of this “twenty-year friendship”.
Looking at the rain during the departure of his ex~mistress’s coffin from Versailles, the devastated king reportedly said:
“La marquise n’aura pas de beau temps pour son voyage.”
“The marquise will not have good weather for her journey”.
She was buried at the Couvent des Capucines in Paris.
Portrait of Madame de Pompadour c.1756
By François Boucher.
