M. de Pompadour

Was a member of the French court and was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, when she then became and remained a close friend and confidante to the king until her death.She took charge of the king’s schedule and was a valued aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She was a major patron of architecture and decorative

arts, such as porcelain. She was a patron of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire. Madame de Pompadour was a woman of verve and intelligence, she died at the age of forty-two from tuberculosis.