Royal Games of the Marquise de Pompadour. The amazing Marquise de Pompadour The crowned lover of the Marquise of Pompadour for the beloved king

3 gourmet recipes in the style of the Marquise de Pompadour and a bit of history

December 29, 1721 was born Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, who went down in history as the Marquise de Pompadour. The famous mistress of Louis XV was strong not only in the art of love, but also in cooking

The daughter of a quartermaster, accused of embezzlement and leaving his family to the mercy of fate, a fortuneteller predicted an almost royal life. But the path to the dream was not easy for Jeanne Poisson. First, she had to marry Charles Guillaume Etiol in order to restore the honor of the family. Madame Etiol meets King Louis XV at a costume ball in February 1745, and in July she receives title of marquise and estate of Pompadour.

For almost 20 years, the Marquise de Pompadour has been the favorite and true friend of the king. In order not to bore her lover, she comes up with more and more entertainment for him. He invites famous playwrights and philosophers to his living room, constantly trying on new images from a rural shepherdess to an oriental odalisque. For example, she introduced into fashion dresses and ribbons made of fabric with a small flower, an apron trimmed with lace, a high hairstyle that opens the forehead. The Marquis does not forget that "the way to a man's heart lies through his stomach."

In the 18th century, cooking became fashionable at the French court. Court ladies try their talents in it. And the royal chefs strive not only for the abundance of dishes, but also for the refinement of taste and quality of products.

The Marquise de Pompadour preferred dishes from expensive products, but simple, refined and exciting.

Among her favorite foods are truffles, celery, chocolate, asparagus.

Here is what he wrote about the properties of celery gourmet Alexandre Grimaud de la Renière:
“Although boiled celery loses some of its healing virtues, we must not forget that the plant is aromatic, good for the stomach, appetizing, hot, and therefore very stimulating. To clear our conscience, we are obliged to warn timid readers about this last property of celery: it is better for them not to eat celery at all, or at least use it with the greatest caution. Simply put, celery is ordered for bachelors ".

According to him, it differs in similar properties and asparagus:
“At the end of April, in Paris, to the delight of those who, bored with potatoes and last year's beans, yearn for greenery, the first asparagus appears.
Asparagus in Paris is always very expensive and available only to the rich: this food is not at all satisfying and slightly exciting, but very tender..

According to one version, Madame Pompadour ate a bowl of truffle soup with celery for breakfast every day. And she preferred white Dutch asparagus, with purple tips.

Festive recipes in the style of the Marquise de Pompadour

TRUFFLE SOUP WITH CELERY

Ingredients:

3 cups celery juice
half a cup dry white wine
half a cup concentrated beef broth
4 yolk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 thinly sliced ​​truffle Truffles can be bought in Moscow at a price of 650 euros per 1 kg. If you choose a truffle weighing 50 grams for soup, then it will not cost you so much);
Salt and pepper to taste

How to cook:

Combine celery juice, beef broth and wine and bring to a boil.

Beat the yolks, pour the hot broth into them, stirring constantly.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan, add the truffle, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes without letting the soup boil.

Serve immediately after being ready.

ASPARAGUS A LA POMPADOUR

Sauce Ingredients:

1 a teaspoon of flour
100 g butter
2 yolk
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
Pinch nutmeg

How to cook:

Peel and boil a bunch of asparagus in boiling salted water.

Thinly slice the asparagus diagonally into pieces no longer than your little finger. Take only the best parts, dry on a warm napkin.

Prepare the sauce. In a water bath (previously it was recommended to use a silver saucepan for it, but a regular one is also suitable) melt a piece of butter, add flour, a pinch of nutmeg, egg yolks, lemon juice.

Dip the asparagus into the prepared sauce and cover the pan with a lid.

ICE CREAM A LA POMPADOUR

Ingredients:

vanilla ice cream 1 kg
Biscuit 350 g
Liqueur "Cointreau" 250 ml
small strawberry 500 g
White wine 250 ml;
Sugar 2-3 tbsp. spoons
Whipped cream optional

How to cook:

Take a form with a diameter of 22-24 cm, lay the bottom with foil and put it in the refrigerator for a while.

Add a few teaspoons of liqueur to the ice cream and mix, cut the biscuit into pieces.

Remove the form from the refrigerator, put half of the ice cream on the bottom, put pieces of biscuit poured with liquor on top, put another layer of ice cream and biscuit on top.

Cover with foil and refrigerate for an hour.

Rinse strawberries in wine, sprinkle with sugar, soak for 15 minutes in liquor. Put the ice cream from the refrigerator on a dish and decorate with a pyramid of strawberries and whipped cream.

The fact that women sometimes ruled France was noted by the philosopher and writer Bernard de Fontenelle, and he, who lived exactly 100 years and had seen a lot in his lifetime, can be trusted. The most prominent ruler of the kingdom was Madame Pompadour (1721-1764), who at the same time caused a storm of indignation for her wastefulness, the dissatisfied murmur of the courtiers and the laudatory odes of the saints. Who was this amazing woman, and what allowed her to turn the fate of the inhabitants of the country?

Madame Pompadour tremblingly guarded the secret of her origin, so it is difficult for historians to get to the bottom of her genealogical roots. Jeanne Antoinette Poisson was born into the family of a former lackey who became a quartermaster. Later, the father stole and went on the run. However, a certain Norman de Turnnam, a nobleman and financier, was keenly interested in the fate of little Jeanne. Who was he - the owner, whose father Jeanne, her godfather, served as a footman, or real father, as ill-wishers claimed, hinting that the king's favorite is the fruit of extramarital love? Documents do not give an unambiguous answer to this.

However, the indisputable fact that Madame Pompadour herself loved to talk about was that a gypsy predicted a future relationship with the king for a 9-year-old girl. This divination gave Jeanne a lifelong setting. After a long and thorny path before meeting Louis XV, eliminating all rivals and firmly establishing herself in Versailles, the favorite did not forget the gypsy and paid her rent until the end of her days. Having received an excellent education, Jeanne married the nephew of her patron. The groom was ugly, but rich, and most importantly, noble. The maiden Poisson joyfully transformed herself into Madame d'Etiol.

But Madame Pompadour aspired, of course, higher. Having gained access to high society, she learned all the gossip of the court, the habits and hobbies of the monarch. At that time, the ruler of France was infatuated with the Duchess de Chateauroux. Waiting for her untimely death, Madame d'Etiol began to act. At the masquerade ball, she was lucky enough to meet 35-year-old Ludovic. Her youthful beauty did not make the proper impression on him - love at first sight did not work out. Then the enterprising Jeanne bought a place in the theater opposite the royal box. But the night in the royal chambers that followed the performance did not "hook" the king.

Then Jeanne went for broke: sneaking into the king's bedchamber, she played a whole melodramatic story, they say, she risks her head to see her beloved and is ready to fall at the hands of her jealous husband. But this act captivated the satiated monarch: instead of expelling the impudent one, he gave her the post of his wife, and a little later the title of marquise. Madame de Pompadour understood that her beauty alone was clearly not enough to bind Louis's heart to herself, so she hit the patronage, knowing the king's penchant for the fine arts. Molière, Montesquieu, Bouchardon, Fragonard, and other figures visited her drawing room.

What was the Marquise de Pompadour like? Portraits of that era represent a peasant red-cheeked full blonde, although this is nothing more than a tribute to the then fashion. Verbal descriptions contemporaries paint us the image of a woman of short stature with brown hair and eyes of an incomprehensible color. It was not appearance that allowed her to ban the Jesuit order in France, remove the state from Prussia and bring it closer to Austria. She was the mistress of the king for only 5 years, but she remained the favorite for 20!

March 13th, 2010

"No one can fully appreciate
what women did for France, ”the writer and
philosopher-educator Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle. And for those who have lived
in the world for exactly 100 years and witnessed the transformation of this state into
the most authoritative and enlightened in Europe, you can trust. Undoubtedly
and that, in paying tribute to the weaker half of France, de Fontenelle had
in mind and the famous Marquise, who forced politicians to seriously talk about
the Pompadour era.

F. Bush. Madame de Pompadour

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. Fortuneteller who predicted a 9-year-old girl 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 treasury 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 purposefulness. 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.

Francois Droi. Portrait of Madame de Pompadour

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 - fine arts and no less elegant women.

By the time of the meeting at the masquerade ball with Jeanne d'Etiol, this " the most beautiful man in his kingdom”, nicknamed Louis the Fair, turned 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 facts that testify to , what poor health this woman was and what incredible efforts it required from her to maintain the illusory glory of a flowering beauty.

Nancy Mitford Madame de Pompadour.

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, was very nice, it seemed to him that she was not entirely sincere and clearly not disinterested, and it was also noticed that crown prince, who saw "this lady" in the theater, found her 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.

Francois Bush. Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour

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 staked on fine arts so beloved 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 far from full list 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 - people who are undoubtedly talented - 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 sciences, arts and crafts”, which opened a new era in the knowledge and interpretation of nature and society. The author of the idea and Chief Editor Encyclopedias - 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 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 with great success performed 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. A large and extremely diverse actress, both comedic, dramatic, and grotesque, capable of singing and dancing, obviously died in it.

Passion for transforming beyond recognition and creating stunning toilets that defined the style of an entire era, endless search 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. Rare pink color The resulting 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 performance.

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 there anyway. strong point 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 site, specially bought by the marquise, was built luxurious mausoleum. The relatives of the marquise, as well as all those whom she favored, waited in the wings: some of them were married to a well-born groom, someone was married to a rich bride, positions were given, 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 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 gazebos in the core of shallow lakes, rose bushes of the marquise's favorite "shade 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 lovers helped card game wholly spent on the completion of construction.

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 gave her 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.

unexpected death only daughter whom the marquise hoped to marry illegitimate son king, brought her, who possessed 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 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 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.

Which for 20 years had a huge impact on public affairs, patronized the sciences and arts.

Childhood

She came from a family of financiers, actually from the third estate. Her father, Francois Poisson, speculated on the black market, but in 1725 he went bankrupt and fled France, leaving his wife and children in the care of the syndic Lenormand de Tournhem. Thanks to this man, the girl received an education befitting the wife of an aristocrat: she knew music, drew, sang, played on stage, recited.

On the night of 25/26 February 1745, a yew ball was given in the Gallery of Mirrors on the occasion of the marriage of the Dauphin. The courtiers dressed in yew tree costumes, the king himself appeared in a mask, Jeanne Antoinette arrived in the costume of the goddess of the hunt. Even then, they noticed that the king did not want to communicate with anyone except a beautiful stranger. Three days later they met again at a ball in the capital's town hall.

Soon Madame d'Etiol took the vacant seat of the official favorite. At Versailles, several rooms were placed at her disposal, located directly above the royal chambers and connected to them by a secret staircase. In July, the King gave her the estate of Pompadour in the Limousin region, along with the title of Marquise. After receiving a profitable sinecure, her husband gave her a divorce.

A year later, the king presented his girlfriend with a plot of Versailles Park with an area of ​​6 hectares, where a modest "hermitage" was erected. After another 2 years, the marquise acquired the nearby manor house La Selle. A whole staff of ladies-in-waiting was at her service. In relation to Queen Maria Leshchinskaya, she behaved emphatically respectfully. The queen was 7 years older than her husband, deeply religious, and after the birth of her 10th child, she told the loving Louis that she no longer intended to share a bed with him.

position at court

Historians of the 19th century, who denied the talents of the Bourbons of the pre-revolutionary decades, described Louis as a depraved, lazy and worthless ruler, instead of whom the energetic Madame Pompadour ruled the country. Around 1750, the Marchioness, on medical advice, stopped spending her nights in the king's bedroom. Since then, their relationship has been platonic in nature (like the relationship of the aged Louis XIV with the Marquise de Maintenon). She moved from the attic apartments to more spacious ones and occupied the luxurious Hotel d'Evreux in the capital. For promotions, you still had to contact her personally. The marquise was in charge of all court receptions and amusements, she personally selected young mistresses for the king, for meetings with whom the so-called. Deer park.

Amusements, buildings, Pompadour outfits were quite 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 9359 francs. She loved champagne and regularly ordered a soup of truffles and celery dipped in flavored chocolate. Her name was called a high hairstyle with a roller, the furnishings in the apartments (“à la Reine” style), buildings, costumes. She set the fashion for the whole of Europe with her ability to look luxurious and at the same time, as it were, at ease.

Participation in public affairs

The foreign policy of France in the middle of the 18th century led to a deterioration in its position in the international arena, however, this should be blamed not so much on the Marquis, but on the lack of state talents among the highest aristocracy. The Marquise removed Cardinal Burney from the Foreign Office, appointing instead her favorite, the Duke of Choiseul, who persuaded the king to ally with Austria, which meant a revision of the age-old principles of European foreign policy.

The Seven Years' War, which flared up soon afterwards, was unsuccessful for France, and public opinion blamed it not on the rotten social structure, but on the Marquise de Pompadour. It is known that she nominated the Duke of Richelieu to the command, despite his bad reputation. The news of the defeats on the battlefields intensified her melancholy. Shortly after the end of the war, she died, presumably of lung cancer. One of her last acts was the revision of the Jean Calas case, which Voltaire insisted on.

According to contemporaries, Louis eventually became so distant from Jeanne Antoinette that he accepted the news of the death of his "precious girlfriend" quite indifferently. She was only 42 years old. Farewell to the marquise took place in her Versailles mansion. She was buried next to her mother and daughter in the crypt of the Capuchin monastery, which was located on the site of Place Vendôme.

patronage of the arts

Madame de Pompadour's favorite style was Rococo. She patronized Francois Boucher and other representatives of this trend - painters, sculptors, cabinetmakers. Her brother, the Marquis de Marigny, was in charge of all the construction work that was carried out at public expense. Under his leadership, the ensembles of Louis XV Square and the military school on the Champ de Mars, Petit Trianon, a new wing of the residence in Fontainebleau, were created, almost the entire Compiègne Palace was rebuilt. The Marquise herself led the big construction works on various estates and estates, including Bellevue Palace.

King Louis was indifferent to literature, but the marquise herself knew a lot about it. Her inner circle included the writers Duclos and Marmontel. She rescued old Crebillon from poverty by giving him the position of librarian. She stood up for the Encyclopedists and for the Encyclopedia.

Voltaire sincerely admired her, although at the same time he laughed at her petty-bourgeois manners.

The real name of the famous marquise is Jeanne Antoinette Poisson. As the mistress of King Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour was an extraordinary woman and had considerable influence at court for 20 years! None of the seductresses of the king has ever been able to do this - to completely seize the monarch and for a long time to be his mistress, and later an authoritative person, adviser and close friend! Truly, the Marquise de Pompadour deserves special attention!

This incomparable woman was far from noble birth. Jeanne's father is a footman who hardly got the post of quartermaster, who left them with his mother and fled after his next story with theft. The baby was taken in the care of the famous nobleman Norman de Turnnam. According to some reports, he was the real father of the future favorite.

Thanks to her foster father, Jeanne received an excellent education and upbringing. Art and science were given to the girl easily, in addition, the natural artistry and flexibility of mind inherent in her from birth formed the basis of her talented personality. Jeanne in many ways surpassed her peers: she read poetry with an extraordinary sense of expressiveness, played and sang beautifully, causing the delight of others. Confidence in her exclusivity gave Zhanna powerful support for her development.

As a child, a fortuneteller predicted Jeanne a strong connection with the king, her official recognition and a significant influence on the fate of France. At the age of 11, this thought firmly settled in the beautiful head of the girl, and up to the age of 23, Zhanna stubbornly walked towards her goal.

The marriage to the wealthy nephew of his adoptive father and patron Charles Guillaume, ugly and passionately in love with her, helped the future Marquise get a title of nobility. Jeanne did not experience reciprocal feelings for her newly-made husband, firmly deciding to give all her love and affection exclusively to King Louis, with whom she had high hopes for an affair and was firmly convinced of its occurrence. Since then, Miss Poisson has been called Madame d'Etiol.

It was quite difficult to attract the attention of a loving king, satiated with secular entertainment. There was nothing to surprise the bored monarch, but Jeanne carefully studied all his preferences and habits. Louis noticed Jeanne at a masquerade ball, where she arrived in the costume of Diana the huntress. Jeanne could not be called a beauty, but she was unusually charming: a slender figure, blond hair, and beautiful chameleon eyes, which each time acquired a new color - either fascinated by deep blue, then intoxicated by the blackness of the night. The intrigued king managed to chat with a beautiful stranger, after which she abruptly got lost in the crowd. After that, the king and Madame d'Etiol meet again in two adjacent lodges, organized by the prudent Madame, and finally dine alone. But the impression beautiful woman the king had an ambiguous, it seemed to the monarch that the girl was insincere with him, which is why he forgot about her for a while.

Then the future marquise decided to replay the script and came up with new way achieving your goal. Jeanne secretly made her way into the chambers of the French monarch and, weeping, confessed her love to him, from which she lost her head, and that a jealous husband would destroy her upon learning of the offense committed. The king was amazed at such dedication of the girl and a few days later presented her to the court as the official favorite of the king. Jeanne settled in Versailles, her apartments were located directly above the rooms of the king. Later, the determined girl received title of nobility Marquise de Pompadour.

The Marquise understood that it would be quite difficult to maintain the affection of the windy and loving king for a long time, thereby maintaining her influence at court and not losing ground. The right decision was to become indispensable to the king, even if his love ardor fades, to change the quality of his life in such a way as to constantly maintain interest in her. After the monarch declared Jeanne his faithful friend, every evening in the Pompadour living room the king met some interesting guest - a famous artist or writer, an aspiring talented architect, and many intellectually gifted people of that time. Among them are Voltaire, Boucher, Montesquieu, Buffon and many other famous personalities of the era, whose society showed the king how many-sided life is and how many interesting things are in it. Since then, in the face of the Marquise, beginners creative personalities found powerful support, and in many respects thanks to it they became known to the world. Pompadour brought them up and bit by bit created the culture and art of France.

The influential marquise did not bypass her attention to fashion. Passion for stunning clothes, luxurious hairstyles, constant search for new products and experiments with appearance led to the fact that the favorite set the fashion for the whole of France! Noble ladies imitated her, novelties discovered by the marquise in the field of hairdressing were widely used, invented styles of dresses were embodied in famous fashion houses. The Marquise loved things in the style of "a la reine", that is, in the royal style. She could not ignore the interior items, for example, it was Madame de Pompadour who came up with the idea of ​​lace. The active nature of Jeanne did not stop there for a minute.

The construction sector also did not remain unaffected by the active madam. During her "unofficial" rule of the country, the Marquise managed to acquire incredibly a large number of real estate. She lovingly transformed each building in accordance with her tastes. In addition, the palaces and country houses of Louis also underwent changes under the direction of the magnificent marquise. If Pompadour did not have enough money for another idea, she would sell one of the creations she created and enthusiastically take on a new one.

Jeanne clearly surpassed all previous sweethearts of the king, and this greatly strengthened her position at court, so she carried out all the changes in the country, including with the king's treasury, without undue modesty. During 20 years of active activity at court, only 5 of them Pompadour shared a bed with the king, the rest of the years this amazing woman was true friend the king and his chief adviser.

The material was prepared by Serezina Ekaterina.