Frankrigs genius

1746–1757 · Residência

Château de Crécy

1750s

Under her patronage: Boucher, Réveillon and Drouais

Pompadour patronizes sculptors and portrait painters, among them the court artist Jean-Marc Nattier and, in the 1750s, François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Réveillon and François-Hubert Drouais, and makes Paris the perceived capital of taste and culture in Europe.

8 February 1756

Named lady-in-waiting to the Queen

On 8 February 1756 the Marquise de Pompadour is named thirteenth lady-in-waiting to the Queen, a position considered the most prestigious at court.

1756–1763

The Seven Years' War: the public blames the marquise

The war goes badly for France, and public opinion blames the marquise rather than the rotten social order; France emerges from the war diminished and virtually bankrupt.

1757

After Rossbach: “After us, the Deluge”

After France's defeat by the Prussians at Rossbach, Madame de Pompadour is alleged to have comforted the King with the now famous “after us, the Deluge”.

1759

Buys the porcelain factory at Sèvres

In 1759 the marquise buys outright the porcelain factory at Sèvres, which she had earlier built; it becomes one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers in Europe and provides skilled jobs for the region.