Boucher présenté à Madame de Pompadour (Boucher presented to Madame de Pompadour), from "Le Monde Illustré"
Not on view
Linton’s print reproduces a painting by Gérard that depicts the introduction of the painter François Boucher to Madame de Pompadour, a leading member of the French royal court and the official mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to her death in 1764. The relationship between Boucher and his patroness was fruitful and resulted in many commissions for the artist. Boucher’s art epitomized the ancien regime—the period preceding the downfall of the French monarchy at the end of the eighteenth century—the opulence of which was a source of much fascination in the nineteenth century. The painting was shown at the Paris Salon in 1861, and this illustration accompanied a review of the exhibition in the contemporary press.