Portrait of Madame de Pompadour After François Boucher Baroque Oil Painting 24"

Description

Late 20th century oil painting on linen after Portrait of Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher. Portrait of Madame de Pompadour is a 1759 oil-on-canvas painting by the French Rococo artist François Boucher, now in the Wallace Collection in London. Elaborate baroque gilt composite frame with a deep pierced scrolling foliate and floral design.

This portrait is the last image Boucher painted of his distinguished patroness and demonstrates the iconography they developed together—an imagery with special significance to her close circle, including, most importantly, the King.

It celebrates her friendship with Louis, offering an exquisite depiction of a beautiful, fashionably dressed woman.

Unusually, this portrait shows her full face (she was typically depicted looking to the left), leaning elegantly, fan in hand, against a statue symbolizing friendship and platonic love.

This statue recalls the "Friendship Embracing Love" statue that the Marquise commissioned from Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in 1755 (now in the Louvre).

Faithfulness is implied by the presence of her pet spaniel, Ines, while love is symbolized by orange blossoms and roses.

The portrait’s setting evokes the shared love of gardening between Madame de Pompadour and the King, recalling the park at Bellevue, her most splendid country estate.

In this image, Pompadour stands like a living rose in her sumptuous pink gown, set against the dark green trellis of a grove.

Boucher renders every detail of her finery, painting the silk taffeta of her robe with a thin pink wash over a gray underlayer, lending the painting a silvery cast nearly impossible to reproduce in print.

Ironically, as war and public disfavor began to erode Madame de Pompadour’s reputation, such stylistic sensuality likely became less desirable for a mistress who wished to highlight her virtue.

She subsequently turned to Carle Van Loo and François-Hubert Drouais for portraits that were more modest, though less flattering.

Nonetheless, this portrait, with its ravishingly attired subject playfully extending a dainty satin-slippered foot, remains one of the most iconic images of the Marquise.

"François Boucher (29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories, and pastoral scenes. He was perhaps the most celebrated painter and decorative artist of the 18th century." (Wikipedia)

Condition

Crazing to paint; some flaking to frame.

Dimensions

20" x 2" x 24" (Width x Depth x Height)