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Love and Friendship, from Madame de Pompadour's "Suite of Prints"
This print records an intaglio designed by Madame de Pompadour to serve as her personal seal. In translating the image from gem to drawing and then print, Boucher and Pompadour used modulations of light and shadow to soften the figures’ bodies and create a sense of illusionistic depth. The subject, Love encircling Friendship with a floral garland, relates to a group of works in diverse media commissioned by Pompadour around the same theme. This group included porcelain figurines and a marble sculpture. The theme of love and friendship refers not only to Pompadour’s relationship with the king but also to her ability to forge productive, collaborative relationships with artists working in many media.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, ca. 1755. Purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1895; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
Exhibitions
| 2016 | Madame de Pompadour, Patron and Printmaker. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Geographies
France, Paris (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Folio H: 14 9/16 × W: 9 3/8 in. (37 × 23.8 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1895
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
92.548.49
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Parent Object
