Marquise de Pompadour (marquise de Pompadour), birth name Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson) (1721 - 1764) legendary official favorite (since 1745) of the French king Louis XV.
The main success and secret of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (December 29, 1721 - April 15, 1764), whom King Louis XV of France made the Marquise de Pompadour, was her amazing and at first glance inexplicable "longevity" at court. After all, the favorites of the century are short-lived - a rapid rise was usually followed by an equally quick oblivion. And the Marquise de Pompadour did not leave Versailles for twenty years, remaining the closest friend and adviser of the king until her death. The favorite of Louis XV went down in history as the uncrowned queen of France. 
The Marquise de Pompadour is rightfully considered one of the most famous women in history. What kept the fickle, windy Louis near this woman?
Love Lessons from the Marquise de Pompadour
believe in the dream
Jeanne knew from childhood that not just anyone would love her, but the King of France. So the fortuneteller told her. What must a girl think, whose relatives were only bourgeois? With the surname Poisson, which means “fish” in French, and even without the coveted prefix “de”, there was simply nothing to do in the royal environment. But Jeanne believed in the prediction. Having received an excellent education, having learned all the intricacies of secular treatment and marrying a nobleman in love with her, Madame d'Etiol was ready to conquer the main peak in her life.
Therefore: believe in your star. Everything is in your hands, so you can’t lower them in any way. 
First violin
In Europe, it was no secret to anyone that King Louis was stupid. Jeanne de Etiol, who had already received the title of Marquise de Pompadour, very quickly realized that Louis was not at all averse to placing the burden of government on her. He trusted his mistress more than himself. At the same time, the king was terribly proud. Those ministers who acted bypassing the royal "will" quickly found themselves in disgrace. Pompadour was well aware of this, therefore, when making her decision, she always voiced precisely the "will of the king." Well, I didn’t forget to whisper to Ludovik how brilliant and perspicacious he is.
Therefore: even if you are a great strategist and Napoleon in a skirt, do not forget to tell the man that it was he who made the fateful decision. There is such a proverb “A man is a head, and a woman is a neck”, so you should turn your head wisely.
Charm is more important than beauty
Contemporaries unanimously said that the appearance of Jeanne Pompadour is the most ordinary. But Zhanna learned to charm from a young age. She knew how and what to say, how to present herself in conversation, in dance, even at the dinner table. She, like no one else, knew how to select fabrics for dresses, bows, ruffles and jewelry to decorate her appearance. She knew exactly what suited her and what didn't.
Therefore: it is worthwhile to carefully study your strengths and weaknesses in order to mask the shortcomings and emphasize the merits. To do this, you need to stop flattering yourself and reassure yourself and try to be objective. Charm is elusive, but it is much more important than beauty. 
"There are many of you - and Jeanne is one"
It sounds paradoxical, but Madame de Pompadour was not a passionate lover.
Seeing that Jeanne was not too hot, Louis did not insist - she was dear to him already. True, he began to look for fleeting mistresses - pretty stupid women whose task was to entertain the monarch in bed, but no more. Some of them tried to oust Jeanne from the royal heart, but no such luck.
Therefore: there are things that are no less important than sexual harmony. Trust, friendship, simple human communication and warmth in relationships - this is what Jeanne gave her king. One of Louis' mistresses once, in a conversation with him, called Jeanne an "old woman." The king immediately turned away from her: "There are many of you, but Jeanne is one." 
Always be different!
Pompadour, knowing that her friend was prone to melancholy, tried to entertain him - every day she told him something entertaining. As a rule, these were regular Parisian gossips or "criminal chronicles". She loved to treat him with interesting dishes - Pompadour had the most skillful cook. Each time she met the king, she dressed up in a new outfit, one more beautiful than the other. Moreover, she arranged for Louis a real "show of one actor": she sang, danced, recited poetry - if only the king did not fall into melancholy.
Nothing kills love like the routine and monotony of the Marquis de Pompadour patronized artists, communicated with Voltaire on an equal footing, led the most important negotiations and actually ruled France for eighteen years. To be different means to be multifaceted. Change, learn something new. Develop and be interesting, first of all, to yourself - and then you will definitely never be left alone. 
Love secrets of the Marquise de Pompadour
Fragrant secret. During a meeting with Louis XV, Madame Pompadour's signature perfumes, prepared by herself, did their job. She mixed a few drops of the king's sweat with all sorts of flower scents. Many years later, scientists proved that the smell of one's own body is the most pleasant for a person.
Culinary secret. The king's mistress invented a recipe for rissoles - small deep-fried donut-like pies stuffed with salpicon - minced meat cut into small pieces. To maintain the king's love ardor, Madame Pompadour herself prepared for him a drink made of chocolate with amber, and to awaken his imagination - bizarre dishes from the delicate delights of a lamb. And she herself, before a meeting with Louis XV, drank a large cup of chocolate with celery.
Strategic secret. The love joys of the king with young, but always stupid girls, she arranged herself. They were needed for the night, no more, and the satisfied king returned again to Madame Pompadour. Only such a woman could talk to him about the most insignificant matters, and give practical advice in the most difficult situations. 
Sayings of the Marquise de Pompadour
Love is the passion of men...
The ambition of most women is to like...
The death of one person often changes the fate of others...
A man's heart has great resources...
After us, at least a flood ...
You need to be very capable to be able to fall in love with yourself ...
Happy are those who don't love...
Politics is not good for women, because smart thoughts come only with age ...
Love is a pleasure for one season, friendship is for life...
Sadness is tiring and contributes to aging ...
It is easier to pretend than to change your essence... A beautiful woman is more afraid of the end of her youth than of death...
You need to have virtues yourself in order to see them in others ...
You need to have a mind to do good, fools are not capable of this ...
The art of politics is to lie at the right moment...
If you want to have impeccable friends, look for them among the angels...
The hedgehog would give up its thorns if the wolf had no teeth...
The whole secret of politics is to know the time to lie, and to know the time to remain silent...
Politics and war are not for beautiful women...
Even women can be right and give good advice...
Great ones shouldn't make small mistakes...
Don't pity the dead, pity those who are alive...
Death is liberation...
Pompadour died at 43. However, one can only be surprised that with such an anxious life, she lasted so long. In her early youth, she was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis.
When the funeral procession turned towards Paris, Louis, standing on the balcony of the palace in the pouring rain, said: “What disgusting weather you have chosen for your last walk, madam!” Behind this seemingly completely inappropriate joke, true sadness was hidden. 
The Marquise de Pompadour was buried in the tomb of the Capuchin monastery. Now, at the place of her burial, there is Rue de la Paix, passing through the territory of the monastery demolished at the beginning of the 19th century. Historian Henri Matrin called Pompadour "the first female prime minister."
The Marquise de Pompadour is rightfully considered one of the most famous women in history. This name was heard even by those who are not interested in the 18th century and perceive the Gallant Age as a kind of useless episode in the life of European civilization. Moreover - Pompadour is more famous than her crowned lover, thanks to whom she reached the heights of power. The main success and secret of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (December 29, 1721 - April 15, 1764), whom King Louis XV of France made the Marquise de Pompadour, was her amazing and at first glance inexplicable "longevity" at court. After all, the favorites of the century are short-lived - a rapid rise was usually followed by an equally quick oblivion. And the Marquise de Pompadour did not leave Versailles for twenty years, remaining the closest friend and adviser of the king until her death. The favorite of Louis XV went down in history as the uncrowned queen of France. Really Jeanne Antoinette d'Etiol, Marquise de Pompadour, interests historians, novelists and ordinary people much more than Louis XV himself.
Pompadour firmly held in her hands the most important threads of the political life of Europe. But she went down in history not at all as a public figure, but as a lover, as a favorite. Therefore, it would be interesting to understand what kept the fickle, windy Louis near this woman? So, lessons in love from the Marquise de Pompadour.
believe in the dream.
Pretty Jeanne knew from childhood that not just anyone but the King of France would love her. So the fortune-teller predicted to her, saying literally the following: “And you, Jeanne Poisson, will be loved by the king himself!” What must a girl think, whose relatives were only bourgeois? True, there is a version that the father of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson was a lackey who became a commissar, stole and left his family. With the surname Poisson, which means “fish” in French, and even without the coveted prefix “de”, there was simply nothing to do in the royal environment. The King of France chose his mistresses from the most noble families. By the way, in the future, already being a marquise, a proud favorite could easily disown such a parent, but then she would have to admit that she was completely an illegitimate child. The fact is that the nobleman-financier Norman de Turnnam was also called her father. It was assumed that it was he who gave the girl, who was born in 1721, an excellent education and in every possible way took part in her fate. And not in vain. Jeanne was clearly gifted with extraordinary abilities: she drew beautifully, played music, had a small but clear voice and a real passion for poetry, which she perfectly knew how to recite. Surrounding invariably expressed delight, giving Mademoiselle Poisson the necessary self-confidence.
Jeanne believed in the prediction and in the favor of fate. She went to her triumph year after year, step by step. At the age of 19, Jeanne went down the aisle with the nephew of her patron, and possibly her father. The groom was short and completely ugly, but rich and passionately in love with the bride. So the maiden Poisson parted with her unenviable surname and became Madame d'Etiol. Her family life flowed serenely, two years later she gave birth to a daughter, Alexandra, which, however, could not obscure in her mind the dreams of the king, which were stuck in her pretty head like a nail.
Any appearance in the boudoirs of numerous friends, as well as in the living rooms of high society, where the name and wealth of her husband opened the way for her, Jeanne used to her advantage. Rumors, gossip, and sometimes true information - everything went into the piggy bank of her ideas about the life of the king and his court.
She already knew that at that moment the king was busy Duchess de Chateauroux. And then the main features of her character began to appear - perseverance and determination. She began to travel regularly to the Senar forest, where the king used to hunt. However, it was by no means the king who had to catch the eye of her, but the ambitious Duchess de Château, who quickly declassified the purpose of her forest walks. And Jeanne was forbidden to appear in these places. Such a flick on the nose sobered the applicant for some time, but the cards did not seem to lie. The Duchess de Châteauroux, at the age of twenty-seven, died suddenly of pneumonia, and Madame d'Étiol took this as a call to action.
If you learn from the Marquise, then you should believe in your star and go step by step towards the goal. Everything is in your hands, so you can’t lower them in any way. France of the Gallant Age is a complex, tangled world, consisting of class prejudices and other meaningless barriers to glory. Now everything is much simpler, but perseverance and faith are still necessary.
First violin
February 8, 1745 in Paris City Hall, which still stands in the same place to this day, during a masquerade ball, Jeanne first met the king face to face. However, at first she was wearing a mask, but the monarch, intrigued by the behavior of the stranger, asked her to reveal her face. Probably, the impression was more than favorable ...
Louis XV was called a man with an "extremely complex and mysterious character" and an "early tired" king. It was said of him that his "modesty was a quality that turned into a defect in him."
And since Louis felt most liberated in the society of women, in France the king was considered a "lustful sinner."
... Louis XV was born in 1710. At the age of five, after the death of the great-grandfather of King Louis XIV, he inherited the throne. When he was 9, the Russian emperor Peter arrived in Paris to negotiate "on wooing for the king of our daughters, and especially for the middle one", Elizabeth. Versailles was not delighted with the prospect of marrying Louis to the daughter of "portomoi". The origin of the wife of the Russian Emperor Catherine was well known. And the marriage did not take place. The beautiful and lively Lisetka, as Peter called his middle daughter, stayed at home and obviously did not lose, becoming the Russian Empress.
At the age of 11, Ludovic found a suitable bride - Maria Leshchinskaya, daughter of the Polish king Stanislav. When the king turned 15, they were married. His wife was seven years older than him, extremely pious, boring and unattractive. According to some reports, in the first 12 years of marriage, she bore Louis ten children. The king, who had been an exemplary husband all these years, was so fed up with politics, economics, and his own family that he began to do mainly what gave him real pleasure - the fine arts and no less elegant women.
By the time of the meeting at the masquerade ball with Jeanne d'Etiol, this "most beautiful man in his kingdom", nicknamed Louis the Fair, was 35 years old.
In Europe, it was no secret to anyone that King Louis was stupid (although in fact this was not entirely true). That's right, no more, no less. He was completely ignorant of politics, hardly touched books, and preferred hunting and masquerades to all other forms of leisure. Jeanne d'Etiol, who had already received the title of Marquise de Pompadour, very quickly realized that Louis was not at all averse to placing the burden of government on her. He trusted his mistress more than himself. At the same time, the king was terribly proud and never forgot who was the boss in the house. Those ministers who acted, albeit in the right direction, but bypassing the royal "will", quickly found themselves in disgrace. Pompadour, unlike the presumptuous nobles, was well aware of this, therefore, when making her decision, she always voiced exactly “the will of the king”. Well, I didn’t forget to whisper to Ludovik how brilliant and perspicacious he is.
Take note: even if you are a great strategist and Napoleon in a skirt, do not forget to tell the man that it was he who made the fateful decision. There is such a proverb “A man is a head, and a woman is a neck”, so you should turn your head wisely.
Charm is more important than beauty
Most likely, we will never know what she looked like marquise de pompadour in reality, portraits of the Gallant Age give only a generalized approximate, or rather, an embellished idea of a person's appearance. Rococo style made everyone equally pink, plump and tender. But contemporaries unanimously said that the appearance of Jeanne Pompadour is the most ordinary. Yes, she is not devoid of prettiness, grace, charm, but, in any case, you can’t call her charming! At Versailles, the women were much more beautiful. But Zhanna learned to charm from a young age. She knew how and what to say, how to present herself in conversation, in dance, even at the dinner table. She, like no one else, knew how to select fabrics for dresses, bows, ruffles and jewelry to decorate her, in general, not the most memorable appearance. She knew exactly what suited her and what didn't.
One way or another, but her “incomprehensible color eyes” turned out to be opposite the royal ones not only at the masquerade ball, but also at the presentation of the Italian comedy that followed it. Jeanne had to work hard to get a seat next to his box. As a result, the king invited Madame d'Etiol to dinner, which was the beginning of their relationship.
Although after the meeting the king declared to a confidant, bribed by the prudent Jeanne, that Madame d'Etiol, of course, is very sweet, it seemed to him that she was not entirely sincere and clearly not disinterested, and it was also noticed that the crown prince, who saw "this lady in the theatre, found it vulgar...
From all this, it became clear that Jeanne's progress towards her cherished goal would not be problem-free. The next date she managed to achieve with great difficulty. She played her part in this last attempt with the excitement of desperation. The king was offered a simply melodramatic plot: the unfortunate woman made her way into the palace apartments, risking falling at the hands of a jealous husband, only to look at the adored person. And then - "let me die ..."
The king did not shout "bravo", he did better, promising Jeanne that upon his return from the theater of operations in Flanders he would make the victim of jealousy into official favorites.
Madame d'Etiol was delivered royal messages, meaningfully signed: "Loving and devoted." Aware of Ludovic's minute habits and preferences, she answered him in a light, piquant style. The Abbé de Berni, a connoisseur of belles-lettres, was entrusted to read her letters and bring them to the final shine. And then one day she received a royal dispatch addressed to the Marquise de Pompadour. Jeanne, finally, received the title, although extinct, but of an old and respectable noble family.
In love, as in war: it is worth carefully examining your strengths and weaknesses in order to mask your shortcomings and emphasize your virtues. To do this, you need to stop flattering yourself and reassure yourself and try to be objective. Charm is elusive, but it is much more important than beauty.
"There are many of you - and Jeanne is one"
It is now generally accepted that sex plays perhaps the main role in the relationship between a man and a woman. No good sex - no love, no family, no harmony. It sounds paradoxical, but Madame de Pompadour was not a passionate lover. Bed games did not bring her much pleasure. Now she would be offered treatment for frigidity, take courses in psychotherapy, or even urgently change her lover! Think - the king! ..
Seeing that Jeanne was not too hot, Louis did not insist - she was dear to him already. True, he began to look for fleeting mistresses - pretty stupid women whose task was to entertain the voluptuous monarch in bed, but no more. Some of them tried to oust Jeanne from the royal heart, but no such luck.
As it turned out even at that time: there are things that are no less important than sexual harmony. Trust, friendship, simple human communication and warmth in relationships - this is what Jeanne gave her king. One of Louis' mistresses once went so far as to call Jeanne an "old woman" in a conversation with him. The fate of the presumptuous beauty was decided - the king immediately turned away from her: "There are many of you, but Zhanna is one."
Always be different!
On September 14, 1745, the king introduced the newly-made marquise to his confidants as his girlfriend. One may be surprised, but the most loyal attitude towards her was ... the wife of the king, accustomed by that time to literally everything. The courtiers were quietly indignant. Since the time of Gabrielle d'Estre, who became the first official favorite of the monarch, Henry IV of Navarre, in the history of France, this place of honor has been occupied by a lady of good surname. They were also invited to love and favor almost a plebeian. The Marquise was immediately given the nickname Grisette, with a clear hint that in their eyes she is not much different from the persons who earn their living by tailoring cheap clothes and walking along the evening Parisian streets.
Is it just a favorite?
Jeanne understood that until the king was entirely in her power, the title of favorite could hardly be retained for a long time. And she could become irreplaceable for him only if she could change the very quality of his life, get rid of the melancholy and boredom that had recently become Louis' constant companions. So, Jeanne had to become a kind of Versailles Scheherazade.
Pompadour, knowing that her friend was prone to melancholy, tried to entertain him - every day she told him something entertaining. As a rule, these were regular Parisian gossip or a skillfully presented "criminal chronicle". She loved to treat him with interesting dishes - Pompadour had the most skillful cook. Each time she met the king, she dressed up in a new outfit, one more beautiful than the other. Moreover, she arranged for Louis a real "show of one actor": she sang, danced, recited poetry - if only the king did not fall into melancholy.
(Jean-Francis de Troy. Reading Molière) This transformation took place quickly. The Marquise de Pompadour made a bet on the fine arts, so loved by Louis. Now every evening in her living room the king found an interesting guest. Bouchardon, Montesquieu, Fragonard, Boucher, Vanloo, Rameau, the famous naturalist Buffon - this is not a complete list of representatives of the artistic and intellectual elite who surrounded the Marquise. Voltaire was on a special account. Jeanne met him in her youth and considered herself his student. Along with the works of Corneille, the Marquise was engaged in the publication of his works.
It was with the assistance of the Marquise Pompadour that Voltaire gained fame and a worthy place as an academician and chief historian of France, having also received the title of court chamberlain.
Voltaire dedicated to the Marquise "Tancreda" - one of his most famous works. In addition, especially for her palace holidays, he wrote the “Princess of Navarre” and the “Temple of Glory”, thus glorifying his patroness both in poetry and in prose.
O! The marquise already knew then: nothing kills love like routine and monotony. However, diversity in relationships is not only bed experiments.
The Marquise de Pompadour patronized artists, communicated on an equal footing with Voltaire, conducted important negotiations and actually ruled France for eighteen years. To be different means to be multifaceted. Change, learn something new, be able to see the simplest things from an unexpected angle. Develop and be interesting, first of all, to yourself - and then you will definitely never be left alone.
When the Marquise died, Voltaire, one of the few, found kind words for the deceased: “I am deeply shocked by the death of Madame de Pompadour. I owe her a lot, I mourn her. What an irony of fate that an old man who ... barely able to move is still alive, and a beautiful woman dies at 40 years old in the prime of the most wonderful glory in the world.
Such an exquisite society entertained the king, revealing to him more and more new facets of life. In turn, the guests of the marquise - undeniably talented people - in the eyes of society raised their social status, thereby gaining significant support. From the very beginning of her favor, the marquise felt a taste for patronage and did not change this addiction all her life.
In 1751, the first volume of the French Encyclopedia, or "Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", saw the light, opening a new era in the knowledge and interpretation of nature and society. The author of the idea and editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia - Denis Diderot- a staunch opponent of absolutism and churchmen, did not become an outcast in the eyes of the Marquise Pompadour, she helped him publish his works. At the same time, she repeatedly tried to protect him from persecution, urging Diderot to be more careful, although her efforts in this direction were absolutely fruitless.
Another representative of the glorious galaxy of figures of the French Enlightenment - Jean Leron d'Alembert, she helped financially, and shortly before her death she managed to get him a lifetime pension. Among the wards of Madame Pompadour, according to some evidence of contemporaries, was the famous creator of the monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg - the sculptor Falcone.
famous freethinker Jean Jacques Rousseau, although he was offended by the marquise for not introducing him to the king, he was still grateful to her for her help in staging his Siberian Soothsayer on stage, where the marquise performed with great success in the male role of Collen.
In general, the theater is the area that would turn out to be her true vocation, if fate had turned differently. It obviously killed a large and extremely diverse - and comedic, and dramatic, and grotesque, capable of singing and dancing, too - an actress.
The passion for transformation beyond recognition and the creation of stunning toilets that determined the style of an entire era, endless searches and innovations in the field of hairdressing and makeup - all this is seen not only as a desire to keep the fickle king, but also as an urgent need for the marquise's richly gifted nature.
She used every opportunity that came her way to gain viewers and listeners. As contemporaries testified, she played both in well-equipped theaters and on small stages in the mansions of the French nobility.
Another estate bought by the Marquise was called Sèvres. Having no sympathy for anything German and indignant at the dominance of Saxon porcelain, she decided to create her own porcelain production there.
In 1756, two magnificent buildings were built here: one for the workers, the other for the enterprise itself. The marquise, who often visited there, supported and encouraged the workers, found experienced craftsmen, artists, and sculptors. The experiments went on day and night - the Marquise was impatient and did not like delays. She herself participated in solving all problems, helped in choosing shapes and colors for future products. The resulting rare pink porcelain was named "Rose Pompadour" after her. In Versailles, the Marquise arranged a large exhibition of the first batch of products, she sold it herself, declaring publicly: "If someone who has money does not buy this porcelain, he is a bad citizen of his country."
Photo of Serv porcelain.
In the Palace of Versailles, the Marquise conceived and implemented the Chamber Theater. In January 1747, its opening took place: Molière's "Tartuffe" was given. There were almost fewer actors on the stage, together with the marquise involved in the performance, than the audience in the hall: only 14 people were invited. Each entrance ticket was obtained at the cost of incredible efforts and even intrigues. The success of the performance exceeded all expectations. The king was delighted with Joan's game. "You are the most charming woman in France," he told her after the play ended.
Those who had the pleasure of attending the marquise's singing performances claimed that "she feels the music perfectly, sings very expressively and with inspiration, probably knows at least a hundred songs."
(Bedroom of Madame de Pompadour in Versailles)
The obvious superiority of the Marquise Pompadour over the past favorites of the king and the ladies of high society in every way strengthened her position both at court and under Louis. And she took advantage of this, not being afraid to pass for immodest. However, this quality was not already a strong point of her nature. Both in the external and in the private, hidden from prying eyes, life, Madame Pompadour ruled her show.
She was very scrupulous in matters of etiquette and ceremonial. Important visitors - courtiers and ambassadors - were received by her in the luxurious front hall of Versailles, where there was only one chair - the rest of those present were supposed to stand.
She ensured that her daughter was addressed as a person of royal blood - by name. The marquise reburied her mother's ashes with great honors in the very center of Paris - in the Capuchin monastery on Place Vendôme. On this place, specially bought by the marquise, a luxurious mausoleum was built. The relatives of the marquise, as well as all those whom she favored, waited in the wings: some of them married a well-born groom, someone got married to a rich bride, were given positions, life annuities, titles, awards.
And in the end - undisguised, and sometimes public condemnation of her extravagance. It was estimated that she spent 4 million on her entertainment activities, and her "boastful patronage" cost the treasury 8 million livres.
Construction was the second, after the theater, the passion of the Marquise. She owned so much property that hardly any other royal favorite could even dream of. Each of her new acquisitions meant a thorough restructuring, if not demolition, and always in the taste of the hostess. Often, the marquise herself sketched the contours of the future building on paper. Moreover, in these projects, the attraction to the architectural forms of rococo was invariably combined with common sense and practicality.
If the Marquise did not have enough money for the next construction venture, she sold the already erected building and enthusiastically began to implement a new idea. Her latest acquisition was Menard castle, which in its converted version she never managed to use.
The principle of elegant simplicity and maximum closeness to the living world of nature was put by the marquise into the planning of parks. She did not like large, irregular spaces and excessive pomposity. Thickets of jasmine, whole edges of daffodils, violets, carnations, islands with pavilions in the core of shallow lakes, rose bushes of the marquise's favorite "shade of dawn" - these are her preferences in landscape art.
The royal palaces and country residences of Louis also underwent changes in accordance with her tastes. Versailles did not escape this either, where the marquise, not far from the royal park, ordered the construction of a small cozy house with a park and a temple with a white marble statue of Adonis.
A visit to the famous Institute for Noble Maidens, located in Saint-Cyr, led the Marquis to the idea of creating in Paris military school for the sons of war veterans and impoverished nobles, for which permission was obtained from the king, who did not show much enthusiasm for this undertaking.
Construction began in one of the most prestigious areas of the capital - near the Champ de Mars.
The project of the building was commissioned by the first-class architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel, the creator of the famous Place de la Concorde. The construction, which began in 1751, was interrupted due to insufficient state subsidies. Then the marquise invested the missing amount from her own savings. And already in 1753, classes began in the partially rebuilt school premises. Later, the tax that Louis imposed on the lovers of the card game, which went entirely to complete the construction, helped.
Since 1777, the best students of provincial military schools began to be admitted to this educational institution, among which, in October 1781, 19-year-old cadet Napoleon Bonaparte arrived for training.
... Already by her 30th birthday, the Marquise de Pompadour felt that Louis' love ardor was drying up. She herself understood that a long-standing lung disease was doing its devastating work. Her former beauty faded, and it was hardly possible to return it.
The cooling of the august person at all times meant the irretrievable departure of the former favorite into the shadows and further oblivion, if not disgrace.
The Marquise de Pompadour was only 5 years the mistress of the king, and another 15 - a friend and closest adviser on many issues, sometimes of national importance.
The cold mind of the Marquise and her iron will prompted her to find a way out. In the silence of two unremarkable Parisian streets, she rented a house with five rooms, hidden by a dense canopy of trees. This house, called "Deer Park", became the meeting place of the king with the ladies invited by ... the marquise.
The king appeared here incognito, the girls mistook him for some important gentleman. After the fleeting passion of the king for another beauty disappeared and remained without consequences, the girl, having provided a dowry, was given in marriage. If the case ended with the appearance of a child, then after his birth, the baby, together with the mother, received a very significant annuity. The Marquise continued to be the official favorite of His Majesty.
But in 1751, a real danger appeared in the face of a very young Irish Mary Louise O'Murphy who shamelessly encroached on the laurels of the Marquise Pompadour. Marquise made inquiries - Maria Louise Oh, Murphy, Irish-born, model, 15 years old, came to Paris with relatives from Rouen, one of the sisters shows promise as an artist.
She met the criteria - she had a pretty appearance, a piquant body, a calm disposition, and she was not patronized by her relatives.
Father, Daniel Oh, Murphy, a former soldier who once came to France for a better life, died in Rouen, and a mother left without funds with the rest of her daughters came to Paris, and immediately realized that her beautiful daughters would find a place here, and five young ladies Oh, the Murphys worked as actresses and models, helping out a second-hand mother who didn't pay much attention to how her daughters spent their leisure time.
One of the sisters, Victoire, went on to become a leading actress at the Paris Opera-Comique.
The family needed money, and when Maria Louise received an offer to pay a visit to the Deer Park, she did not hesitate long.
But everything immediately went wrong.
The Irish talker turned out to be too interesting and funny for the king - for a long time he had not laughed so much at her jokes and stories!
Marquise listened every day to secret reports that Louis no longer needed new girls, he was having fun with Louise Oh, Murphy under the nose of the all-powerful Marquise!
Pompadour had to go headlong into work, so as not to go crazy with jealousy, and she constantly caught herself thinking that listening to the reports of ambassadors, or dancing at a masquerade, she was thinking about this Irish impudent. And then the whole court started talking about the fact that the new mistress of the king would have a child.
The marquise herself was never able to make Louis happy with the fruit of their love, she had only a daughter, Alexandrina, from her husband Lenormand Etiol.
Half of Europe watched the development of this intrigue. The papal ambassador reported to Rome that Pompadour's days were numbered: "Apparently, the main sultana is losing her position." He made a mistake. Louis left the Marquise all her privileges. And more than once she emerged victorious in martial arts with young beauties, however, as well as with her very experienced political opponents. Although the situation escalated significantly after the diplomatic negotiations between the Marquise de Pompadour and the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa, which led to a change in allied relations between the two countries. In 1756, France, a traditional ally of Prussia, sided with Austria. In addition, Louis, under pressure from his mistress, who vehemently hated the Jesuits, banned the activities of their order in France.
Contrary to the malicious wishes of the marquise, Louise did not at all turn out to be a clumsy, rude and tastelessly dressed "wench" who should sell herrings at the right time.
New expensive chic dresses sat on Louise like a glove, and her soft and somewhat frivolous smile, clear eyes, fresh milky skin, and childish spontaneity were her best advertisement.
And although the beauty did not aspire to politics, was little interested in the affairs of the country, and did not pose a threat to the marquise, everyone was waiting for the denouement, Louis was not a faithful and constant lover.
Marquise lost to Louise in her youth.
Louis visited the Marquise less and less, she seemed to be in a vacuum, and out of habit, with complete calmness, she perceived conversations about the born angel Agatha Louise, a young mother, and the aging monarch who lost her head with happiness - she was no stranger to the cruelty of the court!
Then Louise became pregnant, and although the court doubted the paternity of Louis, his passion for the Irish model of the great Francois Boucher did not fade away, he kept the Marquise at a distance for two years, sharing a bed with Louise, with whose presence in the life of her husband the good Queen Maria Leshchinskaya resigned herself, although more sympathetic towards the Marquise de Pompadour.
Changes of this kind affected the interests of high-ranking officials too clearly for the Marquise to feel invulnerable. And she understood it. The food prepared for her was carefully checked - of all the ways to eliminate objectionable poisoning remained still difficult to prove.
But Louise ruined herself.
Accustomed to permissiveness, she still wanted more - to expel the Marquise de Pompadour from Versailles.
Unaccustomed to the important state affairs in which the marquise was engaged, and having tenderness and gratitude for her, Louis this time did not comply with the request of the young concubine.
The court buzzed about change, about the new return of the forgotten de Pompadour, about new favorites, more cautious ...
The marquise returned as a winner - the king could not live without her!
But Louise did not remain at a loss, she was married to a wealthy nobleman on the condition that she move away from the court.
She had to comply.
Sunset.
The unexpected death of her only daughter, whom the marquise hoped to marry to the illegitimate son of the king, brought her, who had rare endurance, to the brink of insanity. Suspecting the intrigues of enemies, the Marquise demanded an autopsy, but it did not give any results.
Hardly experiencing this grief, the Marquise, as never before, acutely felt her loneliness. Her closest friend turned out to be a spy for her opponents. The king became more and more of a condescending friend.
The mental crisis forced the marquise to think about the possible removal from the court. She even wrote a letter to her husband, asking for forgiveness for the offense inflicted on him and clearly groping for ways to return to her long-abandoned family home. D'Etiol answered without delay that he readily forgave her, but there was no more talk of it...
By 1760, the amounts allocated by the royal treasury for the maintenance of the marquise decreased by 8 times. She sold jewelry and played cards - she was usually lucky. But the treatment required a lot of money, and they had to be borrowed. Already being seriously ill, she even got a lover. But what is the Marquis of Choiseul compared to a king!
The marquise, who was still accompanying Louis everywhere, suddenly lost consciousness on one of the trips. Soon everyone realized that the end was near. And although only royalty had the right to die in Versailles, Louis ordered her to be transferred to the palace apartments.
(This painting was painted after her death) On April 15, 1764, the royal chronicler recorded: "The Marquise de Pompadour, the queen's lady-in-waiting, died about 7 pm in the king's private quarters at the age of 43."
... When the funeral procession turned towards Paris, Louis, standing on the balcony of the palace in the pouring rain, said: "What disgusting weather you have chosen for your last walk, madam!" Behind this seemingly completely inappropriate joke, true sadness was hidden. He took the loss hard. For five years after Joan's death, the king had no permanent mistress. And five years later, the king was offered the 25-year-old prostitute Jeanne Becu, the famous Madame Du Barry, but that's another story.
The Marquise de Pompadour was buried next to her mother and daughter in the tomb of the Capuchin monastery. Now at the place of her burial is Rue de la Paix passing through the territory of the monastery demolished at the beginning of the 19th century.
She revealed the secret that all the women of the world puzzle over - how to keep a man around for 20 years, if he is not even a husband, and you have not had an intimate relationship for a long time. Unfortunately, she took this secret with her to the grave.
She swayed the king towards an alliance with Austria, contrary to traditional French policy. She removed Cardinal Burney from the Foreign Office, appointing her favorite, the Duke of Choiseul, in his place. At her request, commanders in chief were appointed in the armies; she nominated the Duke of Richelieu despite his disrepute, appointing him Marshal of France. Under her, Finance Minister Machaux tried to reform the distribution of taxes. Quesnay explained to her the foundations of his theory.
She was acquainted with many outstanding writers of her time. Her friends were Duclos and Marmontel. She rescued old Crebillon from poverty by giving him the position of librarian. Pompadour ardently supported the encyclopedists and the Encyclopedia. Voltaire admired her, although, at the same time, he laughed at her bourgeois manners. It is known that Rousseau was one of the few intellectuals of that time who were not part of her circle of acquaintances.
Spending at the expense of the royal treasury
Amusements, buildings, Pompadour outfits were expensive. For twenty years at court, she spent 350,035 livres on her toilets, she owned over three hundred jewelry, including a diamond necklace worth 9,359 francs. The furnishings in the apartments (“à la Reine” style), buildings, and costumes were named after her. She created fashion with her ability to dress luxuriously and at the same time "carelessly". Of all the royal mistresses, Pompadour is considered the most brilliant, talented and immoral. Nevertheless, according to contemporaries, Louis accepted the news of her death with indifference.
see also
Notes
Literature
- Malassis, Pompadour. Correspondance" (P., 1878);
- "Lettres" (1753-62, P., 1814);
- Memoirs of Maurep, Choiseul, Marmontel, d'Argenson, Duclos;
- M-me du Hausset, "Mémoires History of the marchioness of Pompadour" (L., 1758);
- Soulavie, "Mémoires historiques et anecdotes de la cour de France pendant la faveur de M-me P." (P., 1802);
- Lessac de Meihan, "Portraits et caractères";
- Capefigue, "M-me de Pompadour" (P., 1858);
- Carné, "Le gouvernement de M-me de P." ("Revue de Deux Mondes", 1859, 16 Janvier);
- E. et J. Concourt, "Les maîtresses de Louis XV" (Par., 1861);
- Bonhomme, "Madame de Pompadour general d'armée" (Par., 1880);
- Campardon, "M-me de P. et la cour de Louis XV" (Par., 1867);
- Pawlowski, "La marquise de P." (1888);
- Sainte-Beuve, "La marquise de P.".
- Evelyn Lever, Madame de Pompadour. M .: "Terra-Book Club", "Palmpsest", 2009. Translated from French by V. E. Klimanov.
- One of the episodes of the Doctor Who series is also dedicated to her.
Links
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- Deceased in 1764
- Stylistically incorrect ESBE articles
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- History of the 18th century
- Favorites of the Monarchs of France
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See what "Marquise de Pompadour" is in other dictionaries:
Antoinette (Marquise de Pompadour, Pompadour; nee Poisson, Poisson; married Lenormand d Etiol) (December 29, 1721, Paris April 15, 1764, Versailles), mistress of the French king Louis XV Bourbon (see LOUIS XV Bourbon), who provided ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Francois Bush. Portrait of Madame de Pompadour. OK. 1750. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh Marquise de Pompadour (Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, French Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, marquise de Pompadour, December 29, 1721 April 15, 1764) since 1745 ... ... Wikipedia
Pompadour- self-righteous administrator. named after the Marquise Pompadour. The word first appeared in the work of M. E. Saltykov Shchedrin "Pompadours and Pompadours". Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, marquise de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764) ... ... The fate of eponyms. Dictionary-reference
- (fr., from the name of the famous favorite of the French king Louis XV), 1) the satirical name of the governor and, in general, the tyrant administrator in Russia. The Pompadour is the governor's favorite. 2) a light, elegant work bag for ladies. Dictionary… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
marquise- uh. marquise f. 1. Wife or daughter of the marquis. ALS 1. The seventeen-year-old Marchioness, Polina, was beautiful, kind, and virtuous. MM 4 118. The wife, Marquise Teresa, is in charge of the house, she is an intelligent and energetic woman. Grigorovich Ship Retvizan. || trans. In… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
The Marquise de Pompadour was only 5 years the mistress of the king, and another 15 - a friend and closest adviser on many issues, sometimes of national importance.
"No one can fully appreciate what women have done for France," argued writer and educational philosopher Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle. And one who has lived in the world for exactly 100 years and witnessed the transformation of this state into the most authoritative and enlightened in Europe can be trusted. There is no doubt that, while paying tribute to the weak half of France, de Fontenelle also had in mind the famous marquise, who forced politicians to seriously talk about the Pompadour era.
Only the power concentrated in the hands of the most influential mistress of Louis XV forced her too zealous opponents not to delve into the details of her origin. And this was extremely annoying for a woman striving for perfection in everything. Although information has come down to us that the father of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson was a lackey, who had become a quartermaster, stealing and leaving his family.
A selfish marquise could easily disown such a parent, but then she would have to admit that she was completely an illegitimate child. The fact is that the nobleman-financier Norman de Turnnam was also called her father. It was assumed that it was he who gave the girl, who was born in 1721, an excellent education and in every possible way took part in her fate. And not in vain...
Jeanne was clearly gifted with extraordinary abilities: she drew beautifully, played music, had a small but clear voice and a real passion for poetry, which she perfectly knew how to recite. Surrounding invariably expressed delight, giving Mademoiselle Poisson the necessary self-confidence. The fortune-teller, who predicted a 9-year-old girl a love affair with the king, only confirmed her chosenness and exclusivity. The future marquise paid a pension to this kind woman until the end of her days.
At the age of 19, Jeanne went down the aisle with the nephew of her patron, and possibly her father. The groom was short and completely ugly, but rich and passionately in love with the bride. So the maiden Poisson parted with her unenviable surname and became Madame d'Etiol. Her family life flowed serenely, two years later she gave birth to a daughter, Alexandra, which, however, could not obscure in her mind the dreams of the king, which were stuck in her pretty head like a nail.
Any appearance in the boudoirs of numerous friends, as well as in the living rooms of high society, where the name and wealth of her husband opened the way for her, Jeanne used to her advantage. Rumors, gossip, and sometimes true information - everything went into the piggy bank of her ideas about the life of the king and his court.
She already knew that at that moment the king was busy with the Duchess de Châteauroux. And then the main features of her character began to appear - perseverance and determination. She began to travel regularly to the Senar forest, where the king used to hunt. However, it was by no means the king who had to catch the eye of her, but the ambitious Duchess de Château, who quickly declassified the purpose of her forest walks. And Jeanne was forbidden to appear in these places. Such a flick on the nose sobered the applicant for some time, but the cards did not seem to lie. The Duchess de Châteauroux, at the age of twenty-seven, died suddenly of pneumonia, and Madame d'Étiol took this as a call to action.
On February 28, 1745, in the Paris City Hall, which still stands in the same place to this day, during a masquerade ball, Jeanne met the king face to face for the first time. However, at first she was wearing a mask, but the monarch, intrigued by the behavior of the stranger, asked her to reveal her face. Probably, the impression was more than favorable ...
Louis XV was called a man with an "extremely complex and mysterious character" and an "early tired" king. It was said of him that his "modesty was a quality that turned into a defect in him."
And since Louis felt most liberated in the society of women, in France the king was considered a "lustful sinner."
Louis XV was born in 1710. At the age of five, after the death of the great-grandfather of King Louis XIV, he inherited the throne. When he was 9, the Russian emperor Peter arrived in Paris to negotiate "on wooing for the king of our daughters, and especially for the middle one", Elizabeth. Versailles was not delighted with the prospect of marrying Louis to the daughter of "portomoi". The origin of the wife of the Russian Emperor Catherine was well known. And the marriage did not take place. The beautiful and lively Lisetka, as Peter called his middle daughter, stayed at home and obviously did not lose, becoming the Russian Empress.
At the age of 11, Louis was found a suitable bride - Maria Leshchinskaya, daughter of the Polish king Stanislav. When the king turned 15, they were married. His wife was seven years older than him, extremely pious, boring and unattractive. According to some reports, in the first 12 years of marriage, she bore Louis ten children. The king, who had been an exemplary husband all these years, was so fed up with politics, economics, and his own family that he began to do mainly what gave him real pleasure - the fine arts and no less elegant women.
By the time of the meeting at the masquerade ball with Jeanne d'Etiol, this "most beautiful man in his kingdom", nicknamed Louis the Fair, was 35 years old.
Although the appearance of this woman, so artistically gifted, is hardly possible to unequivocally characterize. Here, as the classic rightly noted, "everything is not what it is, but what it seems." That is why the descriptions of the appearance of the future Marquise de Pompadour varied so much. Here much, of course, depended on the attitude towards her. One of the detractors did not find anything special in her: "She was a blonde with a too pale face, somewhat overweight and rather poorly built, although endowed with grace and talents."
But the chief huntsman of the forests and parks of Versailles, Monsieur Leroy, who described the king's girlfriend as a real beauty, noted a beautiful complexion, thick, lush hair with a chestnut tint, a perfectly shaped nose and mouth, literally "created for kisses." He was especially admired by his large, incomprehensible color eyes, which left the impression of "some kind of vague point in a restless soul." Poetic. And it completely coincides with the portraits of Francois Boucher, to whom the future marquise provided constant patronage.
It is possible that it was precisely the patronage of the Marquise that influenced the fact that in the portraits by Boucher she appears as the goddess of beauty, and at the same time fertility, with a fresh, ruddy and rather well-fed face of a paisan, while history brought to us the facts testifying to , what poor health this woman was and what incredible efforts it required from her to maintain the illusory glory of a flowering beauty.
One way or another, but her “incomprehensible color eyes” turned out to be opposite the royal ones not only at the masquerade ball, but also at the presentation of the Italian comedy that followed it. Jeanne had to work hard to get a seat next to his box. As a result, the king invited Madame d'Etiol to dinner, which was the beginning of their relationship.
Although after the meeting the king declared to a confidant, bribed by the prudent Jeanne, that Madame d'Etiol, of course, is very sweet, it seemed to him that she was not entirely sincere and clearly not disinterested, and it was also noticed that the crown prince, who saw "this lady in the theatre, found it vulgar...
From all this, it became clear that Jeanne's progress towards her cherished goal would not be problem-free. The next date she managed to achieve with great difficulty. She played her part in this last attempt with the excitement of desperation. The king was offered a simply melodramatic plot: the unfortunate woman made her way into the palace apartments, risking falling at the hands of a jealous husband, only to look at the adored person. And then - "let me die ..."
The king did not shout "bravo", he did better, promising Jeanne that upon his return from the theater of operations in Flanders he would make the victim of jealousy into official favorites.
Madame d'Etiol was delivered royal messages, meaningfully signed: "Loving and devoted." Aware of Ludovic's minute habits and preferences, she answered him in a light, piquant style. The Abbé de Berni, a connoisseur of belles-lettres, was entrusted to read her letters and bring them to the final shine. And then one day she received a royal dispatch addressed to the Marquise de Pompadour. Jeanne, finally, received the title, although extinct, but of an old and respectable noble family.
On September 14, 1745, the king introduced the newly-made marquise to his confidants as his girlfriend. One may be surprised, but the most loyal attitude towards her was ... the wife of the king, accustomed by that time to literally everything. The courtiers were quietly indignant. Since the time of Gabrielle d'Estre, who became the first official favorite of the monarch, Henry IV of Navarre, in the history of France, this place of honor has been occupied by a lady of good surname. They were also invited to love and favor almost a plebeian. The Marquise was immediately given the nickname Grisette, with a clear hint that in their eyes she is not much different from the persons who earn their living by tailoring cheap clothes and walking along the evening Parisian streets.
Jeanne understood that until the king was entirely in her power, the title of favorite could hardly be retained for a long time. And she could become irreplaceable for him only if she could change the very quality of his life, get rid of the melancholy and boredom that had recently become Louis' constant companions. So, Jeanne had to become a kind of Versailles Scheherazade.
This transformation took place quickly. The Marquise de Pompadour made a bet on the fine arts, so loved by Louis. Now every evening in her living room the king found an interesting guest. Bouchardon, Montesquieu, Fragonard, Boucher, Vanloo, Rameau, the famous naturalist Buffon - this is not a complete list of representatives of the artistic and intellectual elite who surrounded the Marquise. Voltaire was on a special account. Jeanne met him in her youth and considered herself his student. Along with the works of Corneille, the Marquise was engaged in the publication of his works.
It was with the assistance of the Marquise Pompadour that Voltaire gained fame and a worthy place as an academician and chief historian of France, having also received the title of court chamberlain.
Voltaire dedicated "Tancred" to the Marquise - one of his most famous works. In addition, especially for her palace holidays, he wrote the “Princess of Navarre” and the “Temple of Glory”, thus glorifying his patroness both in poetry and in prose.
When the Marquise died, Voltaire, one of the few, found kind words for the deceased: “I am deeply shocked by the death of Madame de Pompadour. I owe her a lot, I mourn her. What an irony of fate that the old man, who ... is barely able to move, is still alive, and the lovely woman dies at 40 years old in the prime of the most wonderful glory in the world.
Such an exquisite society entertained the king, revealing to him more and more new facets of life. In turn, the guests of the marquise - undeniably talented people - in the eyes of society raised their social status, thereby gaining significant support. From the very beginning of her favor, the marquise felt a taste for patronage and did not change this addiction all her life.
In 1751, the first volume of the French Encyclopedia, or "Explanatory Dictionary of Sciences, Arts and Crafts", saw the light, opening a new era in the knowledge and interpretation of nature and society. The author of the idea and the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia, Denis Diderot, a staunch opponent of absolutism and churchmen, did not become an outcast in the eyes of the Marquise Pompadour, she helped him publish his works. At the same time, she repeatedly tried to protect him from persecution, urging Diderot to be more careful, although her efforts in this direction were absolutely fruitless.
Another representative of the glorious galaxy of figures of the French Enlightenment - Jean Leron d'Alembert, she helped financially, and shortly before her death she managed to get him a lifetime pension. Among the wards of Madame Pompadour, according to some evidence of contemporaries, was the famous creator of the monument to Peter I in St. Petersburg - the sculptor Falcone.
The famous freethinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau, although he was offended by the marquise for not introducing him to the king, was still grateful to her for her help in staging his Siberian Soothsayer on stage, where the marquise performed with great success in the male role of Collin.
In general, the theater is the area that would turn out to be her true vocation, if fate had turned differently. It obviously killed a large and extremely diverse - and comedic, and dramatic, and grotesque, capable of singing and dancing, too - an actress.
The passion for transformation beyond recognition and the creation of stunning toilets that determined the style of an entire era, endless searches and innovations in the field of hairdressing and makeup - all this is seen not only as a desire to keep the fickle king, but also as an urgent need for the marquise's richly gifted nature.
She used every opportunity that came her way to gain viewers and listeners. As contemporaries testified, she played both in well-equipped theaters and on small stages in the mansions of the French nobility.
The next estate bought by the marquise was called Sevres. Having no sympathy for anything German and indignant at the dominance of Saxon porcelain, she decided to create her own porcelain production there.
In 1756, two magnificent buildings were built here: one for the workers, the other for the enterprise itself. The marquise, who often visited there, supported and encouraged the workers, found experienced craftsmen, artists, and sculptors. The experiments went on day and night - the Marquise was impatient and did not like delays. She herself participated in solving all problems, helped in choosing shapes and colors for future products. The resulting rare pink porcelain was named "Rose Pompadour" after her. In Versailles, the Marquise arranged a large exhibition of the first batch of products, she sold it herself, declaring publicly: "If someone who has money does not buy this porcelain, he is a bad citizen of his country."
In the Palace of Versailles, the Marquise conceived and implemented the Chamber Theater. In January 1747, its opening took place: Molière's "Tartuffe" was given. There were almost fewer actors on the stage, together with the marquise involved in the performance, than the audience in the hall: only 14 people were invited. Each entrance ticket was obtained at the cost of incredible efforts and even intrigues. The success of the performance exceeded all expectations. The king was delighted with Joan's game. "You are the most charming woman in France," he told her after the play ended.
Those who had the pleasure of attending the marquise's singing performances claimed that "she feels the music perfectly, sings very expressively and with inspiration, probably knows at least a hundred songs."
The obvious superiority of the Marquise Pompadour over the past favorites of the king and the ladies of high society in every way strengthened her position both at court and under Louis. And she took advantage of this, not being afraid to pass for immodest. However, this quality was not already a strong point of her nature. Both in the external and in the private, hidden from prying eyes, life, Madame Pompadour ruled her show.
She was very scrupulous in matters of etiquette and ceremonial. Important visitors - courtiers and ambassadors - were received by her in the luxurious front hall of Versailles, where there was only one chair - the rest of those present were supposed to stand.
She ensured that her daughter was addressed as a person of royal blood - by name. The marquise reburied her mother's ashes with great honors in the very center of Paris - in the Capuchin monastery on Place Vendôme. On this place, specially bought by the marquise, a luxurious mausoleum was built. The relatives of the marquise, as well as all those whom she favored, waited in the wings: some of them married a well-born groom, someone got married to a rich bride, were given positions, life annuities, titles, awards.
And in the end - undisguised, and sometimes public condemnation of her extravagance. It was estimated that she spent 4 million on her entertainment activities, and her "boastful patronage" cost the treasury 8 million livres.
Construction was the second, after the theater, the passion of the Marquise. She owned so much property that hardly any other royal favorite could even dream of. Each of her new acquisitions meant a thorough restructuring, if not demolition, and always in the taste of the hostess. Often, the marquise herself sketched the contours of the future building on paper. Moreover, in these projects, the attraction to the architectural forms of rococo was invariably combined with common sense and practicality.
If the Marquise did not have enough money for the next construction venture, she sold the already erected building and enthusiastically began to implement a new idea. Her last acquisition was the Menard castle, which she never managed to use in its converted version.
The principle of elegant simplicity and maximum closeness to the living world of nature was put by the marquise into the planning of parks. She did not like large, irregular spaces and excessive pomposity. Thickets of jasmine, whole edges of daffodils, violets, carnations, islands with pavilions in the core of shallow lakes, rose bushes of the marquise's favorite "shade of dawn" - these are her preferences in landscape art.
The royal palaces and country residences of Louis also underwent changes in accordance with her tastes. Versailles did not escape this either, where the marquise, not far from the royal park, ordered the construction of a small cozy house with a park and a temple with a white marble statue of Adonis.
A visit to the famous Institute of Noble Maidens, located in Saint-Cyr, led the marquis to create in Paris a military school for the sons of war veterans and impoverished nobles, which was obtained from the king, who did not show much enthusiasm for this undertaking, permission.
Construction began in one of the most prestigious areas of the capital - near the Champ de Mars.
The project of the building was commissioned by the first-class architect Jacques-Ange Gabriel, the creator of the famous Place de la Concorde. The construction, which began in 1751, was interrupted due to insufficient state subsidies. Then the marquise invested the missing amount from her own savings. And already in 1753, classes began in the partially rebuilt school premises. Later, the tax that Louis imposed on the lovers of the card game, which went entirely to complete the construction, helped.
Since 1777, the best students of provincial military schools began to be admitted to this educational institution, among which, in October 1781, 19-year-old cadet Napoleon Bonaparte arrived for training.
Already on her 30th birthday, the Marquise de Pompadour felt that Louis' love ardor was drying up. She herself understood that a long-standing lung disease was doing its devastating work. Her former beauty faded, and it was hardly possible to return it.
The cooling of the august person at all times meant the irretrievable departure of the former favorite into the shadows and further oblivion, if not disgrace.
The Marquise de Pompadour was only 5 years the mistress of the king, and another 15 - a friend and closest adviser on many issues, sometimes of national importance.
The cold mind of the Marquise and her iron will prompted her to find a way out. In the silence of two unremarkable Parisian streets, she rented a house with five rooms, hidden by a dense canopy of trees. This house, called "Deer Park", became the meeting place of the king with the ladies invited ... by the marquise.
The king appeared here incognito, the girls mistook him for some important gentleman. After the fleeting passion of the king for another beauty disappeared and remained without consequences, the girl, having provided a dowry, was given in marriage. If the case ended with the appearance of a child, then after his birth, the baby, together with the mother, received a very significant annuity. The Marquise continued to be the official favorite of His Majesty.
But in 1751, a real danger appeared in the face of a very young Irish woman, Marie-Louise o'Murphy, who shamelessly encroached on the laurels of the Marquise Pompadour.
Half of Europe watched the development of this intrigue. The papal ambassador reported to Rome that Pompadour's days were numbered: "Apparently, the main sultana is losing her position." He made a mistake. Louis left the Marquise all her privileges. And more than once she emerged victorious in martial arts with young beauties, however, as well as with her very experienced political opponents. Although the situation escalated significantly after the diplomatic negotiations between the Marquise de Pompadour and the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa, which led to a change in allied relations between the two countries. In 1756, France, a traditional ally of Prussia, sided with Austria. In addition, Louis, under pressure from his mistress, who vehemently hated the Jesuits, banned the activities of their order in France.
Changes of this kind affected the interests of high-ranking officials too clearly for the Marquise to feel invulnerable. And she understood it. The food prepared for her was carefully checked - of all the ways to eliminate objectionable poisoning remained still difficult to prove.
The unexpected death of her only daughter, whom the marquise hoped to marry to the illegitimate son of the king, brought her, who had rare endurance, to the brink of insanity. Suspecting the intrigues of enemies, the Marquise demanded an autopsy, but it did not give any results.
Hardly experiencing this grief, the Marquise, as never before, acutely felt her loneliness. Her closest friend turned out to be a spy for her opponents. The king became more and more of a condescending friend.
The mental crisis forced the marquise to think about the possible removal from the court. She even wrote a letter to her husband, asking for forgiveness for the offense inflicted on him and clearly groping for ways to return to her long-abandoned family home. D'Etiol answered without delay that he readily forgave her, but there was no more to be said...
By 1760, the amounts allocated by the royal treasury for the maintenance of the marquise decreased by 8 times. She sold jewelry and played cards - she was usually lucky. But the treatment required a lot of money, and they had to be borrowed. Already being seriously ill, she even got a lover. But what is the Marquis of Choiseul compared to a king!
The marquise, who was still accompanying Louis everywhere, suddenly lost consciousness on one of the trips. Soon everyone realized that the end was near. And although only royalty had the right to die in Versailles, Louis ordered her to be transferred to the palace apartments.
On April 15, 1764, the royal chronicler recorded: "The Marquise de Pompadour, the queen's lady-in-waiting, died about 7 p.m. in the king's private quarters at the age of 43."
When the funeral procession turned towards Paris, Louis, standing on the balcony of the palace in the pouring rain, said: “What disgusting weather you have chosen for your last walk, madam!” Behind this seemingly completely inappropriate joke, true sadness was hidden.
The Marquise de Pompadour was buried next to her mother and daughter in the tomb of the Capuchin monastery. Now, at the place of her burial, there is Rue de la Paix, passing through the territory of the monastery demolished at the beginning of the 19th century.
The trendsetter of the Rococo era, the first female prime minister, the Marquise de Pompadour, was born in France at the end of 1721. The little girl at birth was named Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson. She was of low origin: her father, Francois Poisson, served as a lackey, and when he went bankrupt, he was forced to flee to Germany so as not to be hanged. The girl's mother, Louise Madeleine, who was known for her beauty and feminine charm, quickly found a guardian for the children in the person of the syndic Lenormand de Tournhem.
The financier treated his adopted daughter so carefully that those around him had doubts about the true origin of Jeannette. He provided the girl with an excellent education for those times: she studied singing, drawing, dancing and manners. At the age of nine, Jeannette was taken to the salon to the fortune-teller Mrs. Lebon, who uttered a prophecy that influenced the girl's biography. Madame Le Bon announced that Jeanne was destined to become the king's favorite. Since then, this destination has become a girl's dream.
Personal life
At the age of 19, Jeanne Antoinette married, at the urging of her stepfather, his nephew Charles Guillaume. He was not much older than the girl, but he inherited a decent fortune. After the wedding in the church of St. Eustathius, the newlyweds moved to Etiol, the husband's family castle, which was located near Versailles. Three years later, the first-born appeared in the family - the daughter of Alexandrina, who soon died. The same fate awaited all the other children of the couple: they died in infancy. It is not known whether this fact upset Jeannette or not - she was all absorbed in the fulfillment of her dream.
The favorable location of Madame d'Etiol's estate played into her hands in achieving her goal. Often Louis XV passed by their house, and young Jeannette at these moments tried to get closer to the road so that the king could admire her beauty. Once, during a thunderstorm, the returning heir to the throne even paid a visit to the castle of the couple d'Etiol. As a token of gratitude for the hospitality shown by the owner of the house, Louis gave him the horns of a freshly killed deer, which turned out to be very symbolic.
But all attempts to meet Jeanne ended in failure. Even her daily promenade in charming outfits through the Senar forest, which she arranged in the hope of seeing the king hunting, ended in failure: she was noticed by the permanent favorite of Louis, the Duchess de Châteauroux. The lady had a sharp temper and mercilessly cracked down on all rivals. Therefore, Jeannette had to stop her attempts so that no trouble would happen.
But luck ultimately turned out to be on the side of Madame d'Etiol. The previous mistress died suddenly from a complication of pneumonia, and her place was vacant. The opportunity presented itself to see the king in person. A yew masquerade ball was announced, which took place in the Paris City Hall in connection with the wedding of the heir and the Spanish princess Maria Theresa. Jeannette, taking advantage of her status, boldly went to meet fate.
All participants of the event were wearing masks, including Ludovic. Jeannette chose the costume of Diana the Huntress. A talented girl adjusts everything in such a way as to find herself opposite the king as often as possible and thereby intrigue him. He tried several times to see her face, but Zhanna played for time until the last moment. When, finally, the mask was removed, the inflamed Louis was delighted with the beauty of the stranger. On the same evening, their first joint dinner took place. In the morning, the king said goodbye to his mistress, believing that it was a one-night stand. The beauty, meekly obeying, left the royal chambers.
This behavior intrigued Louis: before that, none of the girls did this. And he decided to continue the novel. Jeannette acted out her next visit to the royal chambers with all her inherent acting talent. She presented her visit as an escape from the hands of an angry jealous husband, and asked the adored king for protection. Discouraged, Louis XV, seeing the genuine suffering of a woman, granted her patronage. After some time, he bought her the title of Marquise de Pompadour and a castle near Versailles. After that, Jeannette became the official royal favorite.
Louis XV
Louis XV was known as a bored heir to the throne, who did not like to deal with state affairs, so he rarely attended ministerial meetings. His wife was the former Princess of Poland Maria Leszczynska. Parents married the Dauphin when he was only 15, and the bride was 22. Over the long years of marriage, about 10 children were born in the royal family, and then the doctors forbade the queen to have intimacy with her husband. And Louis XV turned his eyes to the pretty ladies-in-waiting. Only with women did the king feel truly free. His pious wife, showing prudence, did not interfere in her husband's private life. With her usual dignity, she continued to reign on the throne.
Women of Louis XV: Marie Leszczynska, Duchess de Châteauroux, Louise La Morfil, Madame Dubarry If the newly appeared marquise learned to find a common language with her patron, then it turned out to be more difficult with the courtiers. For a long time they did not recognize any rights for her and called her “grisette” disparagingly behind her back. But kind communication with Queen Mary unexpectedly brought patronage from her side to the Marquise de Pompadour. And such tricks as the arrangement of the Marquise's office in Versailles, in which there was only one chair for his mistress, taught the aristocrats to treat her courteously.
Jeannette immediately realized that she could not keep Ludovic's attention for a long time by love tricks alone. And she used the entire arsenal of methods known to her.
The Marquise first of all organized a salon in which she proposed to gather high society and invite advanced people of the time: scientists, poets, playwrights, artists and musicians. Louis liked this idea, and he gladly participated in the entertaining discussions that took place within the walls of this society. Gradually, the salons of the Marquise de Pompadour became interested in knowing. Many aristocrats seemed to benefit from the opportunity of personal acquaintance with the royal person.
Such meetings were attended by progressive personalities of that time. Funds flowed from the royal treasury for science, art, and theater. And in the Chamber Theater donated by the Marquis de Pompadour, in which she herself played with pleasure, the first production of the comedy "Tartuffe" was held. With the assistance of Jeannette, the French Scientific Encyclopedia also saw the light.
Achievements
The king, seeing the enterprise and diplomacy of his girlfriend, involves her in solving state issues. With the light hand of Jeannette, France terminated its alliance with Prussia and entered into a partnership agreement with Austria. With the assistance of the Marquise, a military school was opened for the noble offspring. This institution in a few years will become the "alma mater" for the future emperor. The Marquise de Pompadour pushed her patron to completely ban the activities of the Jesuits in France.
Jeanne contributed to the creation of a porcelain factory in the city of Sevres, she introduced a special cut of precious stones, as well as the use of tulip glasses for champagne. It is believed that the mold for these glasses was a cast of the breast of a French beauty. Women can still be grateful to the Marquise de Pompadour for her invention of the reticule - a small handbag for small ladies' needs.
Appearance
The memoirs of contemporaries about the appearance of the Marquise de Pompadour differ in their essence. Some attributed to her only charm and artistry, others sincerely admired her beauty. One thing is known, that if the marquise had beauty and freshness, she owed this to her talent to hide her soreness. From an early age, Jeannette was diagnosed with tuberculosis. But the innate sense of taste allowed the Marquise not only to look great, but also to become a trendsetter.
She pioneered the idea of wearing heels to make up for her short stature, and was the first woman to wear stockings. Her high hairstyle for many years became a sign of the times, which is captured in many ladies' portraits of that era. And photos of images of the awning itself can now be found on the Internet in large numbers.
Last years
Of course, the Marquise, like all the ladies of her position, had ill-wishers, but she knew how to neutralize them competently. Behind the outer shell of a carefree feminine person was a prudent mind and pragmatism. In addition, for many years Jeannette struggled with her cold female temperament, for this, absorbing a large amount of celery and truffles - products recognized in the 18th century as powerful aphrodisiacs. But, having lived with Louis XV for several years in close relations, the marquise calmly gave way to new young mistresses, without losing the favor and friendship of the king.
The slowly progressing illness forced Jeanne to take extreme measures and hold on with all her might. But after a series of attacks, the Marquise died in the private royal chambers. She was 43 years old and died on April 15, 1864.
Doctors ruled that the cause of death was lung cancer. The funeral was modest. The body of the Marquise de Pompadour now rests in the family crypt of the Capuchin monastery, next to the graves of mother and daughter.
Movies
Cinematography really became interested in the life story of the legendary trendsetter as recently as 2006. The historical series "Jeanne Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour" was filmed by French film director Robin Davies. The leading roles of the 2006 film starred French screen stars Helene de Fujrol, Charlotte de Turcheim, Rosemary La Volle. This was the first experience of the most reliable reflection of the stay of the Marquise de Pompadour at the court of the Bourbon dynasty.
