file which includes the original        
illustrations4       ,see #daidg-;h4htm 
or #daidg-;h4zip3                       
7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/cache_/epu
b_/#daidg_/pg#daidg-;images4html7       
or                                      
7https3_/_/www4gutenberg4org_/files_/#da
idg_/daidg-;h4zip7         ,images of   
the original pages are available through
       ,internet ,archive4 ,see         
http3_/_/archive4org_/details_/boucheroc
ad#jjmacfuoft   ,transcriber's note3    
,the oe-ligature is represented by oe   
7example3 ,phoenix74      ,masterpieces 
in ,colour ,edited by ,t4 ,leman ,hare  
,,boucher #agjc-aggj         99       99
       99       99       99             
,,masterpieces ,,in ,,colour ,,series   
,,artist4                               
,,author4     ,,bellini4                
,,george ,,hay4     ,,botticelli4       
,,henry ,b4 ,,binns4     ,,boucher4     
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4                
,,burne-,,jones4                   ,a4  
,,lys ,,baldry4     ,,carlo ,,dolci4    

,,george ,,hay4     ,,chardin4          
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4     ,,constable4   
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,corot4        
,,sidney ,,allnutt4     ,,da ,,vinci4   
,m4 ,w4 ,,brockwell4     ,,delacroix4   
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4     ,d,,rer4       
,h4 ,e4 ,a4 ,,furst4     ,,fra          
,,angelico4                  ,,james    
,,mason4     ,,fra ,,filippo ,,lippi4   
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4     ,,fragonard4   
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4     ,,franz    
,,hals4                    ,,edgcumbe   
,,staley4     ,,gainsborough4           
,,max ,,rothschild4     ,,greuze4       
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4     ,,hogarth4 
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,holbein4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,holman ,,hunt4
                   ,,mary ,e4           
,,coleridge4     ,,ingres4              
,a4 ,j4 ,,finberg4     ,,lawrence4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,le ,,brun1    
,,vig,e4                ,c4 ,,haldane   
,,macfall4     ,,leighton4              
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4     ,,luini4        
,,james ,,mason4     ,,mantegna4        

,,mrs4 ,,arthur ,,bell4     ,,memlinc4  
,w4 ,h4 ,j4  ,j4 ,c4 ,,weale4           
,,millais4                       ,a4    
,,lys ,,baldry4     ,,millet4           
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4     ,,murillo4    
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,perugino4     
,,selwyn ,,brinton4     ,,raeburn4      
,,james ,l4 ,,caw4     ,,raphael4       
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4     ,,rembrandt4   
,,josef ,,israels4     ,,reynolds4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,romney4       
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,rossetti4     
,,lucien ,,pissarro4     ,,rubens4      
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,sargent4      
,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4     ,,tintoretto4  
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,titian4       
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,turner4       
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,van ,,dyck4   
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4     ,,velazquez4  
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4     ,,watteau4      
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4     ,,watts4        
,w4 ,,loftus ,,hare4     ,,whistler4    
,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4      ,others in    
,preparation4         99       99       
99       99       99      ,illustration3

 ,,plate ,i4--,,madame ,,de ,,pompadour4
 ,frontispiece      7,in the ,national  
,gallery of ,scotland7      ,edinburgh  
is fortunate in possessing this1 one of 
the     world-famous examples of        
,boucher's exquisite portraiture4 ,he   
painted with rare charm more than once  
this wonderful woman1     the king's    
morsel1 ,jeanne ,poisson1 ,madame       
,lenormant d',etioles1     who became   
the notorious ,marquise de ,pompadour4  
,he gives us     perhaps too dainty a   
butterfly2 for1 of a truth1 this woman's
     prettiness masked an iron nerve1 an
 unflinching courage1 and a     capacity
 and talents which must have reached to 
fame in any     human being whose frame 
they illumined4 ,nor is there hint of   
those hard qualities that robbed her of 
mercy1 nor allowed her     to bend an   
ear to suffering4     ,,boucher  by     
,haldane ,macfall  ,illustrated with    
,eight ,reproductions in ,colour        
,london3 ,t4 ,c4  ,e4 ,c4 ,jack ,new    
,york3 ,frederick ,a4 ,stokes ,co4      

,,contents                              
,page        ,i4 ,the ,small ,beginnings
      #aa       ,,ii4 ,the ,student     
#af      ,,iii4 ,venus and ,marriage    
#bg       ,,iv4 ,le ,monde qui s'amuse  
#ce        ,v4 ,the ,chteauroux         
#db       ,,vi4 ,the ,pompadour         
#ee      ,,vii4 ,the ,end               
#ge         ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations 
,plate        ,i4 ,madame de ,pompadour 
,frontispiece             ,in the       
,national ,gallery of ,scotland         
,page       ,,ii4 ,madame de ,pompadour 
#ad             ,in the ,wallace        
,collection      ,,iii4 ,diana leaving  
the ,bath                               
#bd             ,in the ,louvre         
,,iv4 ,pastorale                        
#cd             ,in the ,louvre         
,v4 ,pastorale                          
#dj             ,in the ,louvre         
,,vi4 ,portrait of a ,young ,woman      
#ej             ,in the ,louvre         
,,vii4 ,interieur de ,famille           
#fj             ,in the ,louvre         

,,viii4 ,la ,modiste                    
#gj             ,in the ,wallace        
,collection     ,i  ,,the ,,small       
,,beginnings   ,the year after good     
,queen ,anne came to rule over us1      
,louis the ,fourteenth being still ,king
 of ,france1 on an autumn day in the    
,october of #agjc1 that saw the trees of
 ,paris shedding their parched leaves as
 a carpet to the feet of the            
much-bewigged dandified folk who stepped
 it swaggeringly down the walks of the  
,palais ,royal1 swinging long canes1 and
 strutting along the shaded promenades  
of the more fashionable places of the   
city1 there stood in the vestry of the  
parish church of ,saint ,jean-en-,grve a
 little group of the small burgess folk1
 gathered about a little infant1 whilst 
the tipstaff to the king's palace1 one  
,franois ,prvost1 signed solemnly as    
witness to the birth-certificate and as 
acknowledged godfather to the aforesaid 
morsel of humanity1 which1 as the       
certificate badly set forth in black and

 white for ever1 was henceforth to be   
known for good or ill as ,franois       
,boucher1 first-born son1 on the #bith  
of ,september1 four days past1 of the   
tipstaff's friend1 ,nicolas ,boucher1   
matre-peintre1 who stood hard by1 and of
 his wife ,elizabeth ,lemesle4  ,the    
worthy tipstaff's writing done1 he bowed
 in the best ,court manner to           
,mademoiselle ,boullenois1 daughter to  
yonder consequential fellow1 the law    
officer from the ,police ,court2 and    
handed her the inked quill to bear      
witness in her turn as godmother4       
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4--,,madame  
,,de ,,pompadour      7,in the ,wallace 
,collection7      ,here we have one of  
the handsomest portraits of his great   
patron     and friend1 the notorious    
,marquise de ,pompadour1 painted by     
,boucher at the most brilliant phase of 
his art4 ,it is a     glittering        
achievement4 ,the figure is superbly    
placed in its     surroundings4 ,the    
play of limpid light upon the           

beautifully     gowned woman1 of which  
,boucher was such a master-painter1     
proves     it to be of his best period4 
,the ,pompadour stands1 wreathed in     
smiles1 as the mistress of a great      
domain2 and masks as usual     behind   
her pretty ways all hint of that        
calculating hand and     remorseless    
will that sent her enemies without a    
sigh to the     ,bastille or banishment 
or worse--she who was past-mistress of  
the art of the lettre de cachet4  ,the  
sand being flung upon the wet ink1 and  
the blotting done1 there was exchange of
 compliments in the stilted manner of   
good-fellowship of the day between      
priest and party--tapping of snuff-boxes
 and taking of snuff1 with more than a  
little gossip of the ,court and some    
shaking of heads1 and under-lips        
solemnly thrust forth2 the gossip is not
 without authority and weight1 for is   
not godfather ,prvost tipstaff to the   
king's majesty1 therefore in the whirl  
of things8  ,the child1 indeed1 was born

 into a ,paris agog with stirring       
affairs4 ,well might heads be shaken    
solemnly4 ,the ,french arms were knowing
 defeat4 ,the ,englishman1 ,marlborough1
 was flinging back the ,french armies   
wheresoever he gave them battle4 ,europe
 was one great armed camp4 ,france was  
suffering terrible blood-letting4       
,defeat came on defeat4 ,these were     
sorry times4 ,on land all went wrong4   
,good generals were set aside2          
intriguing good-for-nothings led the    
veterans into disaster4 ,but there was  
still ,france upon the high seas4  ,then
 the women folk1 bored with high        
politics1 would draw back the talk to   
the infant ,franois1 and there would be 
genial banter about the morsel2 for was 
he not a ,saturday child1 therefore     
bound to be a bit of a scamp6  ,and so1 
off to ,monsieur ,boucher's modest      
little home in the ,rue de ,verrerie to 
a glass of wine and further compliments 
and banter1 and more vague surmises as  
to what lay upon the knees of the gods  

for little ,franois ,boucher4     ,,ii  
,,the ,,student   ,yes1 the sun of the  
,grand ,monarque was setting4 ,louis    
,quatorze was nearing the end of his    
long lease of splendour4 ,our little    
,franois was not a month old when       
,admiral ,rooke whipped ,chteau-,renaud 
off the high seas1 destroying the       
,french and ,spanish fleets in ,vigo    
,bay1 and carrying off some millions of 
pieces of eight from the galleons as    
treasure4 ,the child's first year saw   
the ,english troopers ride down the     
,french at ,blenheim--a day that made   
,malbrook a name of dread to every      
,french child1 a name to frighten into  
good behaviour4 ,to the little fellow's 
home came the horror-spoken talk of     
,ramilies2 then of ,oudenarde2 then of  
,lille--to his six-year-old ears the    
terrible news of ,malplaquet4  ,but     
there was ,paris a-bellringing in his   
ears at seven2 for there was born to the
 king's grandson a sickly child that was
 to succeed him as ,louis the           

,fifteenth4 ,and ,franois ,boucher is   
one day to step from his modest home and
 stand nearer at this child's side than 
he thinks4  ,the boy ,boucher1 at sturdy
 twelve1 would recall the death of the  
old king in his lonely last years1 and  
the setting upon the ancient throne of  
,france of the five-year-old child as   
,louis ,quinze--a comely little         
fellow--with ,orleans as ,regent4 ,young
 ,franois ,boucher was to spend his     
youth and grow up to manhood in a       
,france that lay under the regency of   
this dissolute1 brilliant ,orleans4     
,nicolas ,boucher1 the father1 seems to 
have been an obscure1 honest fellow1    
given to the trade of art1 and that too 
in mediocre fashion enough1 designing   
embroideries1 covers for chairs1 and the
 like--an inferior designer1 little     
favoured by fortune1 runs the recorded  
verdict of his day4 ,but he had the     
virtue of recognising his mediocrity1   
and the desire to save his son from the 
sordid cares of mediocre artistry2      

since1 having himself given the boy his 
schooling with pencil and brush1 and    
brought the lad up in an atmosphere of  
art and in the company of artists1 he   
had the astuteness to send him to the   
studio of ,lemoyne1 a really great      
painter and rapidly becoming famous--he 
who painted the ceilings of ,versailles 
with gods and goddesses in handsome     
fashion4  ,lemoyne was a well-chosen    
master for the promising youth of       
seventeen4 ,he had founded his art upon 
that of ,correggio and ,veronese1 had   
rid himself of hard academic tendencies1
 and was painting in a sound ,french    
fashion4 ,the youth ,boucher1 with the  
quick and astounding gift1 that he      
displayed all through his life1 of      
rapidly making his own what he wanted to
 acquire1 picked up from ,lemoyne at    
once a ,french way of stating what he   
desired to state1 in a large1 broad     
manner1 without having to go through the
 long years of drudgery to ,italian     
models of style which was then the only 

schooling for an artist--was therefore  
enabled to free himself from the equally
 long years that it would have taken him
 to rid the ,italian style from his     
artistry4 ,in short1 the youth of       
seventeen made ,lemoyne's art his own in
 a few weeks2 and1 on the eve of        
manhood1 he so rivalled his master in   
accomplishment that it is dangerous to  
attribute a picture of this time to the 
master or the pupil without most careful
 evidence4  ,yet the youth vowed that he
 was but three months with ,lemoyne1    
who1 said he1 took scant interest in his
 pupils4 ,but it must be remembered that
 ,boucher was a prodigious worker1 with 
a passionate love for his work that     
lasted until death took the brush from  
his fingers1 and that he had a quick and
 alert mind and hand1 free from the     
hesitances of a student1 and always     
daring in experiment4 ,to wish to       
achieve a thing1 for ,boucher1 was to   
set him to its achievement4 ,he rested  
neither night nor day until he mastered 

that which he had set out to do4 ,on the
 day he left ,lemoyne's studio he       
stepped out of it a finished artist1 a  
sound painter1 fully equipped with all  
the craftmanship1 trade-secrets1 and    
tricks of thumb that it had taken his   
master his life to learn--and a facile  
copyist of his style and handling4 ,it  
was the sincerest form of flattery2 and 
,boucher1 to the end of his days1 held  
the art of ,lemoyne in the greatest     
reverence--as is proved by his answer1  
when at the very height of his fame1 to 
one who asked him to complete a picture 
by his master3 ,such works are to me    
sacred vessels1 said he--,i should dread
 to profane them by touching them4      
,lemoyne's admiration for his pupil was 
not lacking in return4 ,the youth       
painted1 whilst with his master1 a      
picture of a ,judgment of ,susanna1     
before which ,lemoyne stood astounded1  
then burst into prophecy of ,boucher    
achieving greatness in the years to     
come4  ,from ,lemoyne's studio1 the     

young fellow went to live with ,pre     
,cars1 the engraver1 whose son1         
,laurent1 was a friend of the youth1 and
 who engaged him to design the drawings 
for his engravers1 allowing him in      
return his food1 lodging1 and sixty     
livres 7double-florins7 a month--some   
twelve pounds4 ,boucher accounted his   
fortune made4  ,the cheery youth went at
 his work with energy and enthusiasm1   
blithely setting his hand to anything   
that was wanted of him1 bringing charm  
and invention to all he did--tailpieces1
 frontispieces1 emblems1 coats of arms1 
freemason's certificates1               
first-communion cards1 initial letters4 
,he was soon set to work upon important 
designs for engravings4 ,he searched out
 the publishers of books1 and let no    
chance escape of working for them4      
,thus and otherwise he filled his scanty
 purse--that needed filling1 for he was 
quick at its emptying1 being of a free  
hand and generous disposition4 ,and hard
 as he worked1 so did he play4 ,work and

 pleasure were his joy in life4  ,and   
all the time he was taking part in the  
students' competitions for the ,academy4
  ,it was in his nineteenth year that1  
in this same ,paris1 in the house of one
 of its rich families1 was born a little
 girl-child who was to come into        
,boucher's life in after years4 ,the    
father1 a financial fellow1 one         
,poisson1 was a man of shady repute2    
indeed he was under banishment for      
mis-handling the public moneys at the   
time of the birth of the little         
girl-child1 christened ,jeanne          
,antoinette ,poisson--destined to be the
 ,jane of the scurrilous street songs of
 the years to come4 ,but the careless   
student knew little of it as yet1 nor   
that destiny had put into the pretty    
child's cradle the sceptre and diadem of
 ,france as plaything4  ,boucher1 on the
 eve of manhood1 took as little heed of 
the child's coming as did the           
thirteen-year-old lad who sat upon the  
throne1 and who1 in little ,jane        

,poisson's first year1 was declared to  
be of man's estate and ruler of ,france1
 no longer requiring ,regent ,orleans to
 govern for him4  ,it was in this his   
nineteenth year that ,boucher took the  
first prize at the ,academy with his    
picture of ,evilmerodach1 son and       
successor of ,nebuchadnezzar1 delivering
 ,joachin from chains1 in which his     
father had for a long time held him4    
,this success set the collectors buying 
pictures by the brilliant youngster4    
,but ,franois ,boucher needs no paying  
orders to make him work--he paints for  
the love of the thing1 declares that his
 studio is his church1 and seeks to     
display his art and spread the repute of
 it abroad4 ,and his fame grows apace1  
if at a cost4 ,nay1 he courts fame even 
to the extent of hanging his pictures   
upon the tapestries and carpets and such
 like draperies that the police oblige  
the citizens to hang out from their     
houses along the ,place ,dauphin and the
 ,pont-,neuf during the procession of   

the ,fte-,dieu--called the ,exposition  
de la ,jeunesse4  ,there was a thing    
happened about this time that was to be 
of large significance to the young      
fellow's craftsmanship4 ,watteau had    
lately died1 his eager will burning out 
the poor stricken body4 ,his friend ,de 
,julienne1 anxious to publish a book to 
,watteau's memory1 strolled into the    
engraving-studio behind ,pre ,cars'     
shop1 where ,boucher and his comrade1   
,laurent ,cars1 were wont to spend a    
part of their time2 and he commissioned 
,boucher to engrave #abe of the plates  
after the dead master4 ,watteau's       
essentially ,french influence was the   
impulse above all others to thrust      
forward the development of ,boucher's   
genius along its right path1 and sent   
his art towards its great goal4 ,the    
business was a rare delight to the young
 artist1 and in the doing of it he      
learnt many lessons which added greatly 
to the enhancement of his style2 whilst 
the payment of twenty-four livres       

7double-florins7 a day still further    
increased his delight and contentment4  
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4--,,diana  
,,leaving ,,the ,,bath      7,in the    
,louvre7      ,the ,diana leaving the   
,bath with one of her ,companions is    
amongst the most beautiful of those     
so-called ,venus-pieces that            
,boucher created and painted in large   
numbers with decorative     intent4 ,it 
shows his art at its most exquisite     
stage1 when his     painting of flesh   
was at its most luminous and subtle     
achievement2 and his treatment of the   
human figure in relation     to the     
landscape in which it was placed1 at its
 most perfect     balance4  ,he         
completed the series with his wonted    
fiery zeal and rapid facility1 and thus 
and otherwise1 hotly pursuing his study 
of nature and his art1 he arrived at the
 moment when his education should       
receive its inevitable finishing state  
in the ,italian tour2 so to ,rome he    
went with ,carle ,van ,loo and his two  

nephews1 ,franois and ,louis ,van ,loo4 
,of ,boucher's wander-years in ,italy   
little is known4 ,he seems to have shown
 scant respect for the accepted         
standards of the schools and the        
critics1 to have found ,michael ,angelo 
contorted1 ,raphael insipid1 and        
,carrache gloomy4 ,he1 in fact1 was     
drawn only to such artists as were to   
his taste1 and he had the courage to say
 so4 ,however1 whether he were kept idle
 from ill-health or not2 whether his    
stay were short or not1 he appears again
 in ,paris in three years--suspiciously 
like the three years' conventional      
,italian study of a first-prize winner  
of the ,academy--with a large number of 
religious pictures to his               
credit--pictures that were hailed by the
 ,academicians and critics alike for    
their beauty1 their force1 and their    
virility--pictures which1 perhaps       
fortunately for ,boucher's repute1 have 
vanished1 or hang in galleries under    
other names4  ,here we see ,boucher     

grimly putting aside his own taste and  
aims in art1 and doggedly bending his   
will and hand to a prodigious effort to 
win the reputation and standing of a    
serious painter1 without which he could 
not hope to attain academic honours4 ,he
 won them2 for1 in this his             
twenty-eighth year1 on his return to    
,paris1 he was nominated to the         
,academy4 ,he had but to present an     
,historical ,painting in order to take  
his seat as an ,academician4     ,,iii  
,,venus ,,and ,,marriage   ,back in his 
beloved ,paris again2 thrilled by the   
atmosphere and gaiety of its merry life2
 in the full vigour of manhood on the   
eve of his thirties2 amongst congenial  
friends2 done with the drudgery of      
winning to ,academic honour1 ,boucher   
saw that the public were not falling    
over each other to purchase religious or
 historic pictures2 he straightway      
turned his back upon these things1 and  
on the edge of his thirtieth year he    
gave to the world his ,marriage of the  

,children of ,god with the ,children of 
,men1 in which ,venus is the avowed     
mistress of his adoration4 ,it caused a 
fine stir1 and greatly increased his    
repute4  ,in this picture he ends his   
,italian period and strikes his own     
personal note4 ,both this and the ,venus
 asking arms for ,aeneas from ,vulcan1  
together with the ,birth of ,adonis and 
the ,death of ,adonis1 of about the same
 period1 still show ,boucher strongly   
under the influence of his master1      
,lemoyne4 ,indeed1 the ,birth and ,death
 of ,adonis1 their record lost during   
the scuffle and confusion of the        
,revolution1 for long hung side by side 
as pictures by ,lemoyne1 until1 being   
cleaned about #ahfj1 ,boucher's initials
 were discovered upon them1 and1        
contemporary engravings being hunted up1
 still further proved their origin4 ,but
 in the ,venus that now figures in all  
his works there is that flesh-painting  
of the nude1 and that rosy touch upon   
the flesh of the female figure1 that are

 a far more certain signature of        
,boucher's handiwork than any written   
name4  ,unfortunately the ,salons were  
closed during ,boucher's earlier years  
until he was thirty-four1 and the record
 of his work during these years is      
difficult to follow2 but with his       
service to ,venus his personal career   
begins1 and the stream of his           
,venus-pieces steadily flows from his   
hands4  ,he came to her service rid of  
all prentice essays in craftsmanship1 a 
finished and consummate artist4 ,he     
found in his subject a goddess to whom  
he could devote his great and splendid  
gifts4 ,he painted her dainty body with 
a radiant delight and a rare            
colour-sense such as ,france had never  
before seen or uttered4 ,he remains to  
this day the first painter of the       
subtle1 delicate1 and elusive thing that
 is femininity2 he caught her allure1   
her charm1 as he was to catch the       
fragrance and charm of children and     
flowers2 and he set the statement of    

these things upon canvas as they have   
never been uttered4  ,the whole of his  
life long1 ,boucher gave himself up with
 equal and passionate devotion to work  
and to pleasure--working at his easel   
often twelve hours of his day without   
losing1 to the end when the brush fell  
from his dead fingers1 his blitheness of
 heart or his generosity of act1 and    
without weakening the pleasure-loving   
desires of his gadding spirit4 ,out of  
his splendid toil he made the means to  
indulge his tastes for pleasure2 and the
 gratifying of his tastes in turn       
renewed and created the ideas that made 
the subjects of his artistry4 ,he       
brought to all he did a joy in the doing
 that made of his vast labour one long  
pleasure--of his pleasures a riot of    
industry4 ,he played as he toiled1      
scarce knowing which was play and which 
toil4  ,the gossip of his love-affairs  
makes no romantic story--they were but  
commonplace ecstasies with unknown frail
 women4 ,but hard as he worked and lived

 and played1 he found time to get       
himself married in his thirtieth year to
 pretty seventeen-year-old ,marie       
,jeanne ,buseau1 a little ,parisian--and
 for love of her1 so far as he          
understood the business2 for she brought
 him no dowry4  ,the young couple       
settled down for the next ten years in  
the ,rue ,saint-,thomas-du-,louvre4     
,here ,boucher lived through his        
thirties4  ,madame was a pretty         
creature1 if we had but ,latour's pastel
 portrait alone to prove it4 ,but the   
pretty features were the crown to as    
pretty a body1 for she sat often to her 
lord2 and it is clear from his          
correspondence with a friend1           
,bachaumont1 that she is the ,psyche of 
his illustrated fable--and ,psyche runs 
much to the ,altogether4 ,marriage1     
however1 was not likely to imprison     
,boucher's gadding eyes2 and it did not4
 ,madame ,boucher seems to have had as  
frail a heart1 and avoided strife by    
amusing herself1 amongst others1 with   

the ,swedish ,ambassador1 ,count de     
,tessin1 who1 to gain access to the     
lady1 commissioned ,boucher to do the   
,watteau-like illustrations to          
,acajou--a dull affair4 ,boucher's      
pretty wife1 herself no mean artist1    
worked in his studio1 and painted       
several smaller canvases after his      
pictures1 gaining some fame as a        
miniaturist and engraver4  ,nor did     
,marriage turn ,boucher from his art4   
,two years were gone by since his       
nomination to the ,academy2 he had now  
to paint the formal ,historical ,picture
 and present it in order to take his    
seat as ,academician2 and it was in this
 his thirtieth year that he painted and 
won his academic rank with the ,renauld 
et ,armide now at the ,louvre4 ,here he 
sufficiently subordinated his own style 
to the academic to ensure success2 and  
the work was hailed by ,academicians and
 critics1 including ,diderot1 with      
enthusiasm4 ,but even here we have his  
cupids peeping round the mythologic     

event2 and ,armide herself has pretty   
,french lips that knew no ,greek4  ,once
 secure of his position1 he straightway 
flung the last remnants of the academic 
style out of his studio door2 and it is 
a grim comment on criticism that it was 
just exactly in proportion as he        
developed his own personal genius and   
uttered the ,france of his day1 that he 
was attacked2 whilst the stilted things 
that he knew were third-rate1 and which 
he wholly rejected from henceforth1 were
 exactly the things that were praised6  
,his election to the ,academy1 and the  
enthusiasm over the picture that won him
 his seat thereat1 brought his name     
before the young king2 the following    
year he received his first order from   
the ,court whose painter he was destined
 to become4 ,the decorations in the     
queen's apartments were gloomy and had  
grown black2 and he painted in their    
stead the ,charity1 ,abundance1         
,fidelity1 and ,prudence still there to 
be seen4 ,indeed1 with his gay vision1  

his pretty habit of culling only the    
flowers from the garden of life1 and his
 quickness to set down the pleasing     
thing in every prospect1 ,boucher was   
the destined painter of a ,court weary  
of pomposity and the pose of the        
mock-heroic1 and which was wholly giving
 itself up to pleasure and the          
elegances4  ,but neither his new dignity
 of ,academician nor the royal favour1  
kept him from the bookshops2 and he     
illustrated1 with rare beauty and a     
charm worthy of ,watteau1 the great     
edition of the ,works of ,molire in his 
thirty-first year4 ,it is true that he  
made as free with ,molire's world as    
with the ,gods of ,olympus2 he peoples  
the plays with characters of his own    
day1 arrayed in the dress and habit of  
that day1 and moving in surroundings    
that he saw about him4                  
,illustration3 ,,plate                  
,,iv4--,,pastorale      7,in the        
,louvre7      ,the ,pastorale1 painted a
 few years after the famous ,diana1     

also belongs to ,boucher's greatest     
years1 and is another of the     glories
 of the ,louvre4 ,it is one of his      
masterpieces in the     realm of the    
,pastoral which he also created--those  
pleasant     landscapes of ,france in   
which he places handsomely dressed      
,dresden shepherds and shepherdesses    
playing at a dandified     comedy of the
 ,simple ,life4     ,,iv  ,,le ,,monde  
,,qui ,s',,amuse   ,the ,homely had come
 upon the town out of ,holland1 painted 
with most consummate artistry by        
,chardin1 and was soon in the vogue4    
,boucher had a quick eye for the mode4  
,and he straightway set himself to the  
painting of ,la ,belle ,cuisinire4      
,still-life and homely subjects need an 
accuracy of realism and a ,dutch sense  
of these things1 a sense of sincerity   
and an appreciation of the dignity of   
the work-a-day life of the people1 in   
which ,boucher was wholly lacking4      
,above all1 it calls for a sense of     
character1 which1 in ,boucher1 was      

always weak4 ,it was a sneer against him
 that his very broomsticks called for   
pompons and ribbons--and there was more 
than a little truth in the spite4 ,he is
 more concerned with the accident of the
 kissing of a kitchen-maid than with the
 kitchen's habit4 ,he cannot even peep  
into a scullery without dragging in     
,venus by the skirts1 and tricking her  
out in a property-wardrobe of a         
scullery-wench1 in which the girl is    
clearly but acting the part4  ,however1 
these passing vogues and experiments in 
different methods were only gay         
asides--he was working the while upon   
his own subjects2 and1 to the display by
 its several members ordered by the     
,academy1 he sent four little paintings 
of fauns and cupids which won him the   
honour of election as deputy-professor4 
,his brain and hand were very busy1 and 
he turns from one thing to another with 
amazing facility1 bringing distinction  
to all that he does4  ,but he painted   
about this time two pictures of infants1

 ,l',amour ,oiseleur and ,l',amour      
,moissonneur1 which were the beginning  
of that host of cupids that he let fly  
from his studio2 they frolic across his 
canvases and join the retinue of ,venus1
 peeping out from clouds1 over waves1   
round curtains1 painted with a          
perfection that has never been surpassed
 in the portrayal of infants4 ,he       
painted their round limbs1 their lusty  
life1 their delightful awkwardnesses1   
their jolly fat grace1 their nave       
surprise at life and glory in it1 as    
they had never been painted before1 and 
have never been painted since4  ,he also
 gave forth in this his thirty-third    
year a ,pastoral and a ,shepherd and    
,shepherdess in ,conversation1 with     
sheep about them and in a pleasant      
landscape1 which were his first essays  
in the style that he created and which  
made him famous4  ,his friend           
,meissonnier1 the inventor of the       
rococo1 stood godfather to ,boucher's   
first-born son in the ,may of #agcf4    

,from the very beginning ,boucher seems 
to have been engraved4 ,and these       
engravings1 done by the best gravers of 
his day1 greatly extended his reputation
 and popularised him2 he fully realised 
the value of the advertisement as well  
as his profits from it4 ,before his     
thirty-third year was run out he        
published his well-known ,cries of      
,paris4 ,boucher's description of them1 
studies from the low classes1 holds the 
key to that something of failure to     
realise the dramatic verities that is   
over all2 it gives also the attitude of 
the ,france that he knew towards the    
,france that he did not1 and could not  
understand4 ,he created that dainty1    
pleasant atmosphere that comes floating 
up to the windows on a fresh morning in 
,paris from the musical cries of the    
street vendors2 but of the deeper       
significance of the street-sellers--of  
the miserable accent in their life1 of  
their weary toil1 of the dignity of     
their labour--he knew nothing2 his brush

 could not refrain from making elegance 
and fine manners peep from behind the   
street-porter's fustian or the          
milkmaid's skirt4  ,but his thirty-third
 year was to contain a more far-reaching
 significance even than the creation of 
his cupid-pieces and pastorals4 ,the    
,cries of ,paris were scarce printed    
when ,boucher's illustration to ,don    
,quixote appeared--,sancho pursued by   
the servants of the ,duke4 ,this design 
was to have far-reaching results that   
,boucher little suspected4  ,the painter
 ,oudry had been called to the conduct  
of the great tapestry looms at ,beauvais
 a couple of years before2 and in his   
efforts to furnish the looms with good  
designs1 he now called ,boucher to his  
aid1 whose original and fresh style1    
colour1 and arrangement1 together with  
his personal vision1 and the enthusiasm 
and zeal with which he threw himself    
into the work1 at once increased the    
reputation and the products of the      
famous looms4 ,this large designing for 

the tapestries was1 in return1 of       
immense value to the development of the 
genius of the man1 enlarging his breadth
 of style and giving scope to that great
 decorative sense that was his superb   
gift4 ,thenceforth he was destined to   
play a supreme part in the history of   
the world-famed factories4 ,he now      
produced painting after painting for the
 ,beauvais looms4      ,illustration3   
,,plate ,v4--,,pastorale      7,in the  
,louvre7      ,this ,pastoral1 known as 
,the ,shepherd and ,shepherdesses1 is   
another canvas painted at the height of 
,boucher's career1 in     which         
dandified shepherds and shepherdesses   
seem to have stepped     out of the     
,opera in order to play their light     
comedy of     beribboned simple living  
in a pleasant landscape of ,france4 ,it 
was of these pastorals a waggish critic 
complained that the     shepherds and   
shepherdesses look as if they must soon 
be off to     the ,opera again4 ,but    
what the carpers omitted was to praise  

the     painting of the pleasant lands  
of ,france in which these dainty        
comedies were set4 ,boucher has never   
received his meed of honour     as one  
of the finest landscape-painters of     
eighteenth-century     ,france4  ,life  
is now one long triumph for ,boucher1   
only disturbed in this year by the sad  
news of the suicide of his old master1  
,lemoyne4 ,it was in this1 ,boucher's   
thirty-fourth year1 that the ,salon was 
opened for the first time since         
,boucher's infancy1 and he contributed  
several canvases to it4  ,rigaud1 the   
old ,academician1 now close upon eighty1
 straggling through the great galleries1
 might well blink and gasp at the change
 that had come over ,french art since he
 last exhibited there1 thirty-three     
years gone by2 but his scoffs and       
regrets held no terrors for the younger 
,academicians gathered about4 ,he stood 
in a new world4 ,a new generation was in
 possession4 ,the grand manner1 the     
severe etiquette1 formal mock-heroics1  

and solemn pomposity of ,louis the      
,fourteenth were vanished1 and the      
,agreeable and the ,pleasant            
,make-,believe of ,louis the ,fifteenth 
reigned in their stead4 ,old ,rigaud    
might blink indeed6 ,just as the        
imposing and stilted etiquette of the   
reception-room had given place to the   
easy manners and airy etiquette of the  
dainty boudoir1 so had light chatter and
 gay wit and the quick repartee usurped 
the heavy splendours of a consequential 
age4 ,france1 weary of an eternal pose  
of the grand manner1 was seeking change 
in joyousness and amusement4 ,gallantry 
and gaiety were become the object of the
 ambition of a dandified and elegant    
day4 ,france became a coquette2 dressed 
herself as a porcelain shepherdess2 and 
with beribboned crook and sheep1 seeking
 pleasant prospects to stroll through1  
gave herself to dalliance--her          
powder-puff and patch-box and fan a     
serious part of her unseriousness4      
,v  ,,the ,,ch,,teauroux   ,at          

thirty-five ,boucher has arrived4 ,he is
 in the vogue2 in favour at ,court--as  
well as in the fashion4 ,in his three   
years from taking his seat at the       
,academy to the opening of the first    
,salon he has created a new and original
 style--his cupid pieces1 his pastorals1
 his ,venus-pieces1 his tapestry4       
,boucher's kingdom lay in the realm of  
the decorative painter--and he has found
 it4 ,torn from the surroundings for    
which he designed them1 as part and     
parcel of the general scheme1 his       
pictures are as out of place as an      
,italian altarpiece in an ,english      
dining-room1 yet they suffer less4      
,several may still be seen1 as he set   
them up in frames of his own planning1  
as overdoors in the palace of the       
,soubise1 now given up to the national  
archives4  ,the ghost of the ,prince of 
,soubise1 who commissioned them1 may    
haunt his palace1 but his kin know the  
place no longer4 ,the overdoors wrought 
by ,boucher's skill look down now on the

 nation's collection of historic        
documents4 ,the ,three ,graces          
enchaining ,love1 the fine pastoral of  
,the ,cage1 and the pastoral of the     
,shepherd placing a ,rose in his        
,shepherdess's ,hair1 were to see a     
mightier change than the usurpation of  
,louis the ,fourteenth's pompous age by 
the elegant years of ,louis the         
,fifteenth4 ,but this was not as yet4   
,here at least we see ,boucher's art rid
 of all outside influences1 and at the  
full tide of creation2 here we have the 
inimitable lightness of touch1 the      
figures and landscape bathed in the airy
 volume of atmosphere4  ,he seems at    
this time to have played with pastel1   
due probably to his friendship with     
,latour1 who sent a portrait of         
,boucher's wife to this ,salon4 ,boucher
 showed in the use of chalks the        
artistry and skill that were always at  
his command4  ,he also was putting to   
its full use his innate sense of        
landscape1 raising to high achievement  

that astonishing balance of landscape   
and figures in his design--a balance    
that has never been surpassed2 his      
figures never override his landscape2   
his landscape never overpowers his      
figures4 ,his earnest counsels to his   
pupils and his constant deploring of the
 lack of the landscape art in ,france   
prove the great stress he laid upon it4 
,the designing of a frontispiece for the
 catalogue of a personal friend1 one    
,gersaint1 a merchant of oriental wares1
 started ,boucher in his thirty-third   
year upon that series of ,chinese       
pictures and tapestries known as the    
,chinoiseries1 in which he frittered    
away only too many precious hours1 for  
they were received with great favour by 
the public4 ,the paintings of ,chinese  
subjects designed for the looms of      
,beauvais are still to be seen at       
,besanon4  ,but busy as were his brain  
and hand in the exercise of his wide and
 versatile gifts1 pouring out           
,chinoiseries1 illustrations for books1 

tapestries on a large scale1 landscapes1
 models for the gilt bronze decorations 
of porcelain vases1 scheming handsome   
frames for his pictures1 designing      
furniture and fans--,boucher was true1  
above all1 to his goddess1 and painted  
the famed ,birth of ,venus1 which1      
thanks to the ,swedish ,ambassador's    
fondness for ,madame ,boucher1 now hangs
 at ,stockholm2 our amorous ,count de   
,tessin1 to be just1 seems to have had a
 rare flair for the artistic--besides   
artist's wives4 ,it was on the #aeth of 
,april in #agdb1 the last year of his   
thirties1 that the ,royal favour was    
marked by the grant of a pension of #djj
 livres 7double florins7 to ,boucher    
with promise of early benefits to       
follow4 ,two years afterwards it was    
raised to #fjj livres4  ,this was the   
year that he painted the beautiful      
canvas of ,diana leaving the ,bath with 
one of her ,companions1 now at the      
,louvre4 ,it was also the year that saw 
his landscape1 the ,hamlet of ,iss at   

the ,salon4 ,this ,hameau d',iss was to 
be enlarged for the ,opera1 proving him 
to be decorator there1 where he was     
arranging waterfalls1 cascades1 and the 
rest of the pretty business1 without    
staying his hand from his art4  ,at     
forty ,boucher has come into his        
kingdom4 ,the ten years of these forties
 were to be a vast triumph for him4 ,he 
was to produce masterpiece after        
masterpiece4 ,his art had caught the    
taste of the day4 ,he was at the height 
of his powers4 ,he had done great       
things--he was to do greater4 ,during   
these ten years of his forties he poured
 forth vivid and glowing works of       
sustained power and originality4  ,we   
have a picture of him as he was in the  
flesh at this time--the pastel portrait 
by ,lundberg1 now at the ,louvre--a gay1
 somewhat dissipated1 handsomely dressed
 dandy of the time1 smiling out of his  
careless day1 the debonnair man of      
fashion1 the laughing eyes showing signs
 of the night carousals1 which were the 

rest from the prodigious toil of this   
vital and forthright spirit4  ,it was in
 this our artist's fortieth year that   
the gifted old ,cardinal ,fleury1 who   
had guided the fortunes of ,france with 
rare skill1 died1 broken by his ninety  
years and the blunders of the disastrous
 war that he had so strenuously opposed2
 and ,louis1 essaying the strut of      
kingship1 became king by act4 ,his      
indolent character1 unequal to the      
mighty business1 his indeterminate will 
fretted by the set of quarrelling and   
intriguing rogues that he gathered about
 him as his ministers1 he fell into the 
habit that became his thenceforth1 the  
only thing to which he paid the tribute 
of constancy--he ruled ,france from     
behind pretty petticoats4 ,he had early 
shown the adulterous blood of his       
great-grandfather2 two1 if not three1 of
 five sisters of the noble and historic 
house of ,de ,nesle had yielded to his  
gadding fancy2 the youngest now ousted  
her sister ,de ,mailly from the king's  

favour1 was publicly acknowledged as the
 king's mistress1 and became ,duchess of
 ,chteauroux4 ,boucher painted her      
handsome being as a shepherdess in one  
of his pastorals4 ,she was no ordinary  
toy of a king4 ,a woman of talent1 with 
hot ambitions for the king's majesty1   
fired with the pride of race of the old 
,french noblesse1 it was during her     
short years of ascendancy over the king 
that he roused from his body's torpor   
and made an effort to reach the dignity 
and eminence befitting to the lord of a 
great and gallant people4 ,he stepped   
forth awhile from his drunken bouts and 
manifold mean adulteries1 and set       
himself at the head of the army in      
,flanders1 and strutted it as conqueror4
 ,poor ,chteauroux only got the hate of 
the people for reward1 ,louis the       
honours2 for the people resented the    
public dishonour of her state4 ,power   
she found to be a dead-sea apple in her 
pretty mouth4 ,the glory of it all1 the 
splendours1 were not the easily won     

delights for which she had looked4 ,she 
had to fight a duel1 that never ended1  
with the king's witty1 crafty1 and      
scurrilous ,prime ,minister1 the        
notorious ,maurepas--and ,maurepas      
willed that no woman should ever come   
between him and the king--,maurepas who 
knew no mercy1 no decency1 no chivalry1 
no scruple4 ,at ,chteauroux's urging1   
,louis placed himself at the head of the
 army2 and ,france went near mad with   
joy that she had again found a king4    
,crafty ,maurepas urged on the business2
 the ,chteauroux suddenly realised his  
cunning glee--it separated her from the 
king4      ,illustration3 ,,plate       
,,vi4--,,portrait ,,of ,a ,,young       
,,woman      7,in the ,louvre7      ,of 
the rare portraits painted by ,boucher1 
it is strange that the     sitter to    
this finely painted canvas is now wholly
 forgotten4     ,but the picture remains
 to prove to us the wide range of       
,boucher's genius4  ,out of the whirl of
 things ,boucher's fortune was ripening1

 little as he might suspect it4  ,he was
 painting masterpieces that make his    
name live4 ,to his fortieth year belong 
the famed ,birth of ,venus1 the ,venus  
leaving the ,bath1 the ,muse ,clio1 the 
,muse ,melpomene1 and the three         
well-known pastorals now at the         
,louvre--,the ,sleeping ,shepherdess1   
the ,nest1 and the ,shepherd and        
,shepherdesses4 ,of the many famous     
,venus-pieces that his hand painted     
during these years it is not easy to    
write the list4 ,but having signed the  
,marriage of ,love and ,psyche at       
forty-one1 he turned his experimental   
hand to the homely1 realistic ,dutch    
style that was having a wide vogue1 and 
painted the ,dejeuner--a family of the  
prosperous class of the day at          
breakfast--showing with rare charm the  
surroundings and home life of the       
well-to-do of his time4  ,all goes well 
with ,boucher4 ,he changes into better  
quarters in the ,rue de                 
,grenelle-,saint-,honor1 where he lived 

for the next five years1 until #agdi2   
but his eyes are fixed upon a studio and
 apartments at the old palace of the    
,louvre1 though the hard intriguing of  
his powerful friends at ,court on his   
behalf failed for some time4 ,he had1   
indeed1 to make another move before he  
arrived at his longed-for goal4         
,pensions ,boucher1 like others1 had    
found to be somewhat empty affairs2 but 
rooms at the ,louvre were a solid       
possession eagerly sought after by the  
artists4  ,in this year of #agdd        
,boucher created a new fashion at the   
annual ,salon by sending studies and    
sketches instead of finished pictures2  
and it set a value upon such things not 
before realised by artists1 for success 
was instant and loud4  ,towards the end 
of the next1 ,boucher's forty-second    
year1 the ,swedish ,ambassador1 ,count  
de ,tessin1 who was to take his leave of
 ,paris1 commissioned four pictures to  
represent the day of a woman of fashion1
 and to be entitled ,morning1 ,midday1  

,evening1 and ,night4 ,boucher painted  
one of these for him1 now known as the  
,marchande de ,modes4 ,the others were  
painted later1 and all had a wide vogue 
as engravings4 ,the correspondence has  
interest since it reveals ,boucher's    
business habits2 he was paid for a      
picture on its delivery1 and for each of
 these he was to receive #fjj livres    
7double florins or dollars7--about a    
hundred and twenty pounds4  ,in an      
official document of the ,director of   
,buildings to the king 7or ,minister of 
,fine ,art1 as we should say71 written  
in this year of #agde1 ,boucher being   
forty-two1 is a list of the best        
painters1 in which ,boucher is singled  
out for distinction as an historic      
painter1 living in the ,rue de          
,grenelle-,saint-,honor1 opposite the   
,rue des ,deux-,ecus1 pupil of ,lemoyne1
 excelling also in landscape1           
grotesques1 and ornaments in the manner 
of ,watteau2 and equally skilled in     
painting flowers1 fruit1 architecture1  

and subjects of gallantry and of        
fashion4  ,not so bad for dry           
officialdom2 the critics could learn a  
lesson4 ,for he was nothing less4 ,what 
indeed does he not do8 and wondrous     
well6 this painter of the age4  ,and the
 mighty rush of events is about to sweep
 him into further prominence2 the very  
things which he probably passed by with 
a gay shrug are to enrich him1 to help  
him to his highest fulfilment4  ,poor   
,chteauroux saw that she must lose the  
king's gadding favour in the conflict   
with ,maurepas unless she joined her    
lord1 now with the army4 ,she realised  
full well that she had created the new  
,louis of ,ambition--that her going must
 bring the people's hate to her4 ,but   
she dared not lose the king4 ,and she   
went4 ,maurepas had overdone his        
jibings4 ,the indiscretion at once rang 
through the land2 became the jest of the
 army--and ,maurepas was not far from   
the bottom of the business4 ,the        
discreet indiscretion of covered ways   

between the king's lodgings and hers    
only added to the mockeries1 and        
increased the people's hate against1 of 
course1 the ,chteauroux4 ,then upon a   
day in ,august the small-pox seized     
,louis at ,metz2 poor ,chteauroux fought
 for possession of the king in the sick 
room1 until his fear of death--,louis'  
sole piety--sent her packing--shrinking 
back in the hired carriage at each      
halting-place for change of horses1 lest
 she should be seen and torn from her   
place and destroyed by the populace4    
,but ,louis recovered2 ,paris rang with 
bells at joy on his recovery1 and he    
entered the city amidst mad enthusiasm1 
hailed as ,the ,well-,beloved4 ,he sent 
for the ,chteauroux to find her dying1  
,maurepas having to deliver the message 
of recall4 ,she died suddenly and in    
great agony1 swearing that ,maurepas had
 poisoned her--died in the arms of her  
poor discarded sister1 the ,de ,mailly4 
,but this year of #agde ,boucher hears a
 mightier scandal that is to mean vast  

things to all ,france--and not least of 
all to ,franois ,boucher4     ,,vi      
,,the ,,pompadour   ,a young bride had  
become the gossip of the rich merchant  
society of ,paris--that class that was  
ousting the old noblesse from power4    
,she was a beautiful1 a remarkable      
woman2 her wit was repeated in the      
drawing-rooms1 she had all the          
accomplishments2 her charming           
name--,madame ,lenormant d',etioles4    
,draw aside the curtains of the past and
 we discover our little ,jeanne         
,poisson--grown into this exquisite     
creature4 ,it has come about in strange 
fashion enough4 ,the father--a          
scandalous fellow--having fingered the  
commissariat moneys in ugly ways to his 
own use1 had been banished for the ugly 
business4 ,nor is ,jeanne's mother any  
better than she should be2 and the wags 
wink knowingly at the handsome and rich 
man of fashion1 ,monsieur ,lenormant de 
,tournehem1 who has been the favoured   
gallant during the absence of the       

light-fingered ,poisson4 ,and1 of a     
truth1 ,lenormant de ,tournehem takes   
astonishing interest in the little      
,jeanne--watching over her up-growing   
and giving her the best of education at 
the convent1 where she wins all hearts1 
and is known as the little queen4 ,the  
truth spoken with wondrous prophecy1 if 
unthinkingly1 as we shall see4          
,complacent ,poisson came home1 and took
 the rich and fashionable1 bland and    
smiling ,lenormant de ,tournehem to his 
arms4 ,has he not wealth and estates8   
therefore as excellent a friend for     
,poisson as for ,madame ,poisson4 ,the  
girl ,jeanne leaves the convent to be   
taught the accomplishments by the       
supreme masters of ,france1 the wits    
foregather at ,madame ,poisson's1 and   
the brilliant ,jeanne is soon mistress  
of the arts--coquetry not least of all2 
has also the most exquisite taste in    
dress4 ,under all is a heart cold as    
steel2 calculating as the higher        
mathematics4 ,she has but one hindrance 

to ambition--her mean birth4 ,lenormant 
de ,tournehem rids her even of this slur
 by making his nephew1 ,lenormant       
d',etioles1 marry her1 giving the young 
couple half his fortune for dowry1 and  
the promise of the rest when he         
dies--also he grants him a splendid     
town-house1 as splendid a country seat4 
,and consequential self-respecting      
little ,lenormant d',etioles is lord of 
,etioles1 amongst other seignories4 ,so 
,jane ,fish appears as ,madame          
,lenormant d',etioles1 seductive1       
beautiful1 accomplished1 to whose house 
repair the new philosophy1 the wits1 and
 artists4 ,she has a certain sense of   
virtue2 indeed openly vows that no one  
but the king shall ever come between her
 and her lord4 ,but1 deep in her heart1 
she has harboured a fierce              
ambition--that the king shall help her  
to keep her bond4 ,she puts forth all   
her gifts1 all her powers1 to win to the
 strange goal2 confides it to her       
worldly mother and uncle1 ,lenormant de 

,tournehem2 finds keen allies therein to
 the reaching of that strange goal4 ,the
 death of the ,chteauroux clears the    
way4 ,at a masked ball the king is      
intrigued as to the personality of a    
beautiful woman who plagues him with her
 art2 he orders the unmasking4 ,madame  
,lenormant d',etioles stands revealed1  
drops her handkerchief as by accident2  
the whisper runs through the ,court that
 the handkerchief has been thrown6 ,the 
king stoops and picks it up4 ,a few     
evenings later she is smuggled into the 
private apartments4 ,she goes again a   
month later2 in the morning is seized   
with sudden terror--she daren't go back 
to her angry lord lest he do her        
grievous harm2 he will have missed her4 
,the king is touched2 allows her to hide
 from henceforth in the secret          
apartments2 promises the beautiful      
creature a lodging1 her husband's       
banishment1 and early acknowledgment as 
titular mistress--before the whole      
,court at ,easter1 says the pious ,great

 ,one4 ,but he has to join the army to  
play the ,conqueror at ,fontenoy2 and it
 is later in the year 7,september7      
before ,madame d',etioles is presented  
to the ,court in a vast company and     
proceeds to the queen's apartments to   
kiss hands on appointment4 ,thus was    
,jeanne ,poisson raised to the great    
aristocracy of ,france in her           
twenty-third year as ,marquise de       
,pompadour4  ,boucher had been one of   
the brilliant group of artists of the   
d',etioles' circle4 ,that the           
,pompadour's influence had much effect  
upon his position at ,court for a year  
or two is unlikely2 for she had to fight
 for possession of the king day and     
night1 as the ,chteauroux had done1     
against the queen's party and the       
unscrupulous enmity of ,maurepas4 ,to   
set down ,boucher's favour at ,court to 
her is ridiculous4 ,he was painting for 
the queen's apartments at thirty-one    
when the ,pompadour was a school-girl of
 twelve4 ,but in the year following her 

rise to power1 ,boucher painted four    
pictures for the large room of the      
,dauphin1 which were placed elsewhere2  
and1 the year after that1 he was at work
 upon two pictures for the bedroom of   
the king at the castle of ,marly4 ,it is
 likely enough that the ,pompadour      
directed this order4 ,she had almost    
immediately secured the office of the   
,director-,general of ,buildings1 which 
covered the direction of the royal art  
treasures1 for uncle ,lenormant de      
,tournehem1 who was also a friend of the
 artist4 ,and from this year it is      
significant that ,boucher paints no more
 for the opposing camp of the ,queen and
 ,dauphin4      ,illustration3 ,,plate  
,,vii4--,,interieur ,,de ,,famille      
7,in the ,louvre7      ,boucher had a   
quick ear for the vogue4 ,twice he found
 the ,home     to be in the artistic    
fashion2 and each time he painted ,home 
life in order to be in the mode4 ,this  
interior1 showing a     well-to-do      
,french family of the times at the      

midday meal1 is not     only rendered   
with glitter and atmosphere1 but it is  
valuable as     a rich record of the    
manners and furnishments of his day4    
,he was now giving all his strength to  
the ,rape of ,europa that he painted for
 the competition ordered by the ,academy
 at the command of ,lenormant de        
,tournehem in the king's name1 in which 
ten chosen ,academicians were to paint  
subjects in their own style for six     
prizes and a gold medal1 to be awarded  
in secret vote by the competing artists 
themselves4 ,boucher won1 by his amiable
 nature1 the good-will of them all by   
proposing that they should so arrange as
 to share the prizes equally1 and thus  
prevent any sense of soreness inevitable
 in the losers4  ,but greatly as he won 
the good-fellowship of his              
fellow-artists by it1 this picture      
caused a murmur to rise amongst the     
critics who1 aforetime loud in his      
praise1 now began to complain of his    
abuse of rose tints in the painting of  

the female nude4 ,the fact was that     
,diderot and the men of the ,new        
,philosophy were turning their eyes to  
the whole foundations upon which ,france
 was built1 art as well as society1 and 
were beginning to demand of art grandeur
 and morality in its subjects4 ,they    
were soon to be clamouring for the      
statement of a great maxim1 a lesson for
 the spectator4 ,diderot1 with bull-like
 courage1 picked out the greatest1 and  
turned upon ,boucher1 blaming him for   
triviality4  ,the nations1 weary of war1
 concluded the peace of                 
,aix-la-,chapelle in the ,october of    
#agdh4 ,no sooner was peace concluded   
than ,louis relapsed into his old habit 
of dandified indolence and profligate   
ease2 and1 putting from him his duties  
as the lord of a great people1 he gave  
himself up to shameless intrigues4 ,he  
allowed the ,pompadour to usurp his     
magnificence and to rule over the land4 
,he yielded himself utterly1 if         
sometimes sulkily1 to her domination2   

and for sixteen years she was the most  
powerful person at ,court1 the greatest 
force in the state--making and unmaking 
ministers1 disposing of office1 honours1
 titles1 pensions4 ,all political       
affairs were discussed and arranged     
under her guidance2 ministers1          
ambassadors1 generals transacted their  
business in her stately boudoirs2 the   
whole patronage of the sovereign was    
dispensed by her pretty hands2 the      
prizes of the ,church1 of the army1 of  
the magistracy could be obtained solely 
through her favour and good-will4 ,her  
energy must have been prodigious4       
,possessed of extraordinary talents and 
exquisite tastes1 she gave full rein to 
them1 and it was in the indulgence of   
her better qualities that ,destiny      
brought ,boucher into the friendship of 
this wonderful woman4 ,she became not   
only his patron but his pupil1 engraving
 several of his designs4  ,but this1 her
 sovereignty over the king1 easy and    
light in its outward seeming1 was a     

haggard nightmare to the calculating    
woman who had so longed for it4 ,she    
knew no single hour's rest from the     
night she won to the king's bed4 ,she   
had to fight her enemies1 secret and    
open1 for possession of the king's will1
 day and night2 and she fought--with    
rare courage4 ,she won by consummate    
skill and unending pluck4 ,she made     
herself an essential part of the king's 
freedom from care4 ,the ,court party    
fought her for power with constant      
vigilance4 ,maurepas brought all his    
unscrupulous art1 all his ironic        
mimicry1 all his vile jibes and         
unchivalrous hatred to bear against her4
 ,he had made himself a necessity to the
 king2 and he never slept away a chance 
of injuring her4 ,he knew no mercy1 no  
nobility1 no pity4 ,he made her the     
detested object of the people4 ,with his
 own hands he penned the witty verses   
and epigrams that were sung and flung   
about the streets of ,paris4  ,but she  
had an enemy more subtle than any at the

 ,court--hour by hour she had to dispute
 the king with the king's boredom4 ,and 
it was in the effort to do so that she  
created her celebrated theatre in the   
private apartments1 calling ,boucher and
 others to her aid in the doing of it4  
,here the noblest of ,france vied with  
each other to obtain the smallest part  
to play1 an instrument in its orchestra1
 an invitation to its performances4     
,boucher left the ,opera to become its  
decorator in #agdh1 and did not return  
until her death4 ,for her1 he also      
decorated her beautiful rooms at        
,bellevue4 ,she bought at high prices   
many of his greatest masterpieces4  ,the
 ,pompadour's power so greatly increased
 that she openly took command of the    
king's will2 dared and succeeded in     
getting his favourite ,maurepas         
banished2 and herself took to the use of
 the kingly we4 ,her rascally father was
 created ,lord of ,marigny2 her brother1
 whom the king liked well and called    
little brother1 was created ,marquis de 

,vandires2 her only child1 ,alexandrine1
 signed her name as a princess of the   
blood royal1 and would have been married
 to the blood royal had she not caught  
the small-pox and died4 ,she amassed a  
private fortune1 castles1 and estates   
such as no mistress had dreamed of2 and 
into them she poured art treasures that 
cost the nation thirty-six millions of  
money4 ,she created the porcelain       
factory of ,svres1 kept keen watch over 
the ,gobelins looms1 and founded the    
great ,military ,school of ,st4 ,cyr    
amidst work that would have kept several
 statesmen busy1 and of deadly intrigues
 at ,court that would have broken the   
spirit of many a brilliant man4  ,it was
 in her hectic desire to keep the king  
from being bored that she stooped1 and  
made ,boucher stoop1 to the employment  
of his high artistry in the painting of 
a series of indecent pictures wherewith 
to tickle the jaded desires of ,boredom1
 and thereby gave rise to the widespread
 impression that ,boucher's art was ever

 infected by base design4 ,but ,boucher 
was1 at his very worst1 but a healthy   
animal2 and even in these secret works  
for the king he did not reach so low as 
did many an artist of more pious memory 
who painted with no excuse but his own  
pleasure4  ,as a matter of fact1 the    
,pompadour has been blamed too much for 
this evil act1 and too much forgotten   
for her splendid patronage of the man   
who1 under it and during these great    
years of his forties1 produced a series 
of masterpieces that place him in the   
foremost rank of the painters of his    
century4 ,it is impossible to reckon the
 number of the pastorals and            
,venus-pieces that his master-hand      
painted and loved to paint1 during these
 the supreme years of his genius4 ,it is
 significant that they were painted     
during the years that saw the ,pompadour
 in supreme power4  ,boucher was so     
firmly established in #agej1 his        
forty-seventh year1 that he moved into a
 new house in the ,rue ,richelieu1 near 

the ,palais ,royal4 ,disappointed in not
 receiving a studio and apartments at   
the ,louvre1 he was allowed to use a    
studio in the king's library4 ,he was   
now making money so easily that he was  
able to collect pictures and precious   
stones and the gaily coloured           
curiosities that appealed to his tastes4
  ,the critics were becoming more and   
more censorious2 and one of them hits   
true with the comment that in his       
pastorals his shepherdesses look as if  
they had stepped over from the ,opera   
and would soon be off again thereto4    
,in his forty-eighth year ,boucher's art
 was at its most luminous stage--his    
atmosphere clear and subtle and         
exquisitely rendered2 his yellows       
golden2 his whites satin-like and       
silvery2 his flesh-tones upon the nude  
bodies of his goddesses unsurpassed by  
previous art4 ,the beauty of it all was 
not to last much longer4  ,lenormant de 
,tournehem died suddenly in the         
,november of #agea2 the ,pompadour's    

brother1 ,abel ,poisson de ,vandires1   
was appointed ,director-,general in his 
stead at the age of twenty-five--and    
soon afterwards1 on the death of his    
father1 created ,marquis de ,marigny--a 
shy1 handsome youth1 a gentleman and an 
honourable fellow1 whom the king liked  
well1 and against whom his sister's sole
 complaint was that he lacked the brazen
 effrontery of the courtiers of the day4
 ,no man did more for the advancement of
 the art of his time4 ,a pension of a   
thousand livres falling vacant1 the     
young fellow secured it for ,boucher2   
and almost immediately afterwards1 a    
studio becoming vacant at the ,louvre   
owing to the death of ,coypel1 first    
painter to the king1 ,boucher came to   
his coveted home1 eagerly moving in with
 his family as soon as its wretched     
state could be put into repair4  ,the   
decoration of the new wing to the palace
 at ,fontainebleau brought the          
commission for the painting of the      
ceiling and the principal picture in the

 ,council ,chamber to ,boucher1 who had 
already decorated the ,dining-,room4    
,this was the period of his painting the
 ,rising and the ,setting of the ,sun   
for the ,pompadour1 now in the ,watteau 
collection1 two canvases that were      
always favourites with the painter1     
bitterly as they were assailed by the   
critic ,grimm4      ,illustration3      
,,plate ,,viii4--,,la ,,modiste         
7,in the ,wallace ,collection7      ,the
 ,modiste that now hangs at the ,wallace
 is a slight     variation on the       
,toilet that went to ,stockholm1        
commissioned     by the ,swedish        
,ambassador as ,morning 7with three     
others1 to     represent the ,midday1   
,evening1 and ,night of a fashionable   
woman's day1 but which were never       
painted74 ,the ,modiste or     ,morning1
 was engraved by ,gaillard as ,la       
,marchande de ,modes1     which adds    
somewhat to the confusion of its title4 
,he was turning out so much work that it
 was impossible to give as much care to 

his pictures as he ought4 ,for he       
refused sternly1 his life long1 to raise
 his prices2 by consequence he had to   
create a larger amount of work in order 
to meet his expenditure4 ,it was about  
this time that ,reynolds1 passing       
through ,paris1 went to visit him and   
found him painting on a huge canvas     
without models or sketches4 ,on         
expressing my surprise1 writes          
,reynolds1 he replied that he had       
considered the model as necessary during
 his youth until he had completed his   
study of art1 but that he had not used  
one for a long time past4  ,he soon had 
not the time1 not only to paint from    
nature but even to give his pictures the
 work necessary to complete them4 ,the  
feverish haste which took possession of 
him in his frantic endeavour to meet the
 vast demand for his pictures1 and the  
eager efforts of his engravers to       
satisfy the public call for engravings  
after his works1 gave him less and less 
leisure to joy in their doing4 ,and his 

eyesight began to fail4 ,his flesh-tints
 deepened to a reddish hue2 and he      
stands baffled before his work1         
suspecting his sight1 since what every  
one cries out upon as being bright      
vermilion1 he only sees as a dull earthy
 colour4 ,boucher has topped the height 
of his achievement2 he has to descend   
the other side of the hill4 ,boucher    
begins to grow old4  ,in ,boucher's     
fifty-first year an ugly intrigue of the
 queen's party at ,court to sap the     
,pompadour's influence over the king by 
drawing away the king's affections      
towards ,madame de ,choiseul-,romanet1 a
 reckless young beauty of the ,court1   
brought about a strange alliance4 ,the  
,count de ,stainville1 one of the       
,pompadour's bitterest enemies1 was     
shown the king's letter of invitation to
 his young kinswoman2 and he1 deeply    
wounded in his pride that his kinswoman 
should have been offered to the king1   
went to the ,pompadour and exposed the  
plot4 ,a close alliance followed2 and   

,de ,stainville thenceforth became her  
chief guide in affairs of state4 ,it was
 at her instance that the king called   
him to be his ,prime ,minister1 raising 
him to the ,duchy of ,choiseul--a name  
he made illustrious as one of the       
greatest ,ministers of ,france4  ,in his
 fifty-second year ,boucher was         
appointed to the directorship of the    
,gobelins looms1 to the huge delight of 
the weavers and all concerned with the  
tapestry factory4 ,this was the year of 
his painting the famous portrait of the 
,pompadour1 to whom he several times    
paid this tribute of immorality4 ,for   
the ,gobelins looms he produced many    
handsome designs2 and he was painting   
with astounding industry4 ,but his      
hand's skill began to falter4 ,his art  
shows weariness in his sixtieth year1   
and sickness fell upon him1 and held him
 in servitude now with rare moments of  
respite4 ,the critics1 notoriously      
,diderot1 were now attacking him with   
shameless virulence4 ,boucher passed it 

all by2 but he felt the change that was 
taking place in the public taste4 ,the  
ideas of the ,new ,philosophy were      
infecting public opinion2 the ,man of   
,feeling had arisen in the land2 and    
,france1 humiliated in war1 and         
resenting the follies and the greed of  
her shameless privileged class1 was     
openly resenting it and all its works4  
,choiseul had planted his strength deep 
in the people's party1 and was come near
 to being its god4 ,his masterly mind   
had checked ,frederick of ,prussia to   
the ,north2 and the nations1 exhausted  
by the struggle1 signed the ,peace of   
,paris in #agfc4 ,choiseul1 with ,france
 at peace abroad1 turned to the blotting
 out of the turbulent order of the      
,jesuits at home4 ,their attempt to end 
the ,pompadour's relations with the king
 made this powerful woman eager to      
complete his design2 the chance was soon
 to come1 and the ,order was abolished  
from ,france and its vast property      
seized by the state4  ,the ,pompadour   

lived but a short while to enjoy her    
triumph4 ,worn out by her superhuman    
activities1 assailed by debt1 she fell  
ill of a racking cough1 dying on the    
#aeth of ,april1 #agfd1 in her          
forty-second year1 keeping her          
ascendancy over the king and the supreme
 power in ,france to her last hour4     
,death found her transacting affairs of 
state4 ,louis1 weary of his servitude1  
had only a heartless epigram to cast at 
the body of the dead woman as she passed
 to her last resting-place4     ,,vii   
,,the ,,end   ,the death of the         
,pompadour robbed ,boucher of a friend2 
but her brother1 ,marigny1 remained     
faithfully attached to the old artist1  
and seized every chance to honour him4  
,on the death of ,carle van ,loo1       
,boucher1 at sixty-two1 was made first  
painter to the king1 with all his       
pensions and privileges that were       
consistent with this the supreme        
appointment in the art world4  ,there   
had been serious intention of making    

,boucher the head of the ,ecole des     
,elves ,protegs2 he had the art of      
making himself liked and of inspiring   
the love of the arts4 ,he was very      
popular with the students and artists1  
owing to his kindliness1 his eagerness  
to render service1 his readiness to     
encourage the youngsters or to console  
them4 ,when the riot took place1        
provoked by the ,academicians by their  
award of the ,prix de ,rome in #agfg1   
the students insulted the ,academicians1
 but hailed ,boucher with enthusiastic  
applause4 ,the reason was not far to    
seek4 ,when a student came to the old   
master for advice he did not play the   
pontiff1 and1 scorning the false dignity
 of big phrases1 he took the brush in   
his hand and showed the way out of all  
difficulties by simplehearted example1  
despising rules1 and putting himself out
 in order to make things clear to a     
young artist4  ,however1 the            
,academicians feared he would be an     
unorthodox master for youth1 and        

appointed another in his place4  ,a long
 and serious illness thwarted his keen  
energies4 ,diderot was giving himself up
 to outrageous violence against him4 ,if
 the old painter exhibited at the       
,salon1 ,diderot fiercely assailed his  
art2 if he did not exhibit1 ,diderot as 
bitterly assailed him for his           
negligences4 ,above all1 he attacked    
,boucher in that he did not paint what  
,diderot would have painted--but could  
not4 ,when he paints infants1 cries     
,diderot1 you will not find one employed
 in a real act of life--studying his    
lesson1 reading1 writing1 stripping     
hemp4  ,poor unfortunate infants6 for   
whom ,philosophy could find no happier  
joy in life than stripping hemp6        
,boucher was but an artist4 ,he painted 
his generation as far as he could see   
it1 and1 with all his faults and        
weaknesses1 he never debauched his art  
with foreign and alien things that had  
no part in the nation's life2 he painted
 fair ,france into his landscapes1 not a

 make-believe land he did not know with 
preposterous ,greek ruins2 and best of  
all1 to his eternal honour1 he painted  
infants glad in their gladness to be    
alive1 with no desire to send their     
happy little bodies to school1 with no  
sickly ambition to make them into       
budding philosophers1 with no thought of
 making them pose and lie as ,men of    
,feeling4 ,he had no joy in setting     
their little bodies to toil--in making  
them teach a lesson to the spectator1 in
 making them stoop their little         
shoulders to the picking of hemp4  ,he  
continued to paint as he had always     
painted--except that he painted less    
well4 ,the wreath of roses was wilting  
on a grey head4 ,the blood jigged less  
warmly in the frail body4 ,the features 
showed pallid--the eyes haggard4 ,the   
sight failed4 ,the hand alone kept      
something of its cunning4  ,he went to  
,holland with his friend ,randon du     
,boisset1 but health shrank farther from
 him4 ,diderot had near spent his last  

jibe4  ,in #agfh1 ,boucher's sixty-fifth
 year1 the neglected queen went to her  
grave4 ,the king's grief and contrition 
and vows to amend his life came too     
late1 and lasted little longer than the 
drying of the floods of tears over the  
body of his dead consort4 ,a year later 
he was become the creature of a pretty  
woman of the gutters1 whom he caused to 
be married to the ,count du ,barry--the 
infamously famous ,madame du ,barry4    
,but neither the remonstrances of       
,choiseul with the king against this    
further degradation of the throne of    
,france1 nor his unconcealed scorn of   
the upstart countess1 nor the dangerous 
enemy he made for himself thereby1      
signified now to ,boucher1 first painter
 to the king4  ,boucher was failing4    
,his son was a prig and a               
disappointment4 ,his two favourite      
pupils1 ,baudoin and ,deshayes1 who had 
married his two girls1 died4  ,to the   
,salon of #agfi he sent his ,caravan of 
,bohemians4 ,it was his last display4   

,he had been going about for some time  
like a gaunt ghost of his former self1  
afflicted with all the ills inevitable  
to a life feverishly consumed in work   
and the pursuit of pleasure4  ,they went
 to his studio at five of the clock one 
,may morning1 and found him seated at   
his easel1 before a canvas of ,venus1   
dead1 with the paint-filled brush fallen
 out of his fingers4  ,so passed he away
 on the #cjth of ,may #aggj1 in his     
sixty-seventh year4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,when ,boucher    
died1 the generation of which he was the
 limner was near come to its violent    
end4 ,the rosy carnivals and gay        
gallantries of his age gave way to the  
blood-stained romance and fierce tempest
 of the ,revolution4 ,the garrets of the
 old curiosity-shops received the       
discarded canvases of the master4 ,his  
shepherds and shepherdesses were put to 
rout by the ,romans of his pupil1       
citizen ,david4 ,the old order was      
brought into contempt and overthrown4   

,and with it1 ,boucher's art1 like much 
that was gracious and charming and good 
in the evil thing1 went down also1 and  
was overwhelmed for a while4  ,for a    
while only4 ,for just as1 out of the    
blood and terror of the ,revolution1 a  
real ,france arose1 phoenix-wise1 from  
the ruin1 and in being born1 whilst     
putting off the vilenesses of the thing 
from which she sprang1 took on also to  
herself the gracious and winsome        
qualities that place her amongst the    
most fascinating peoples of the ages2 so
 ,boucher has come into his kingdom     
again--the most gracious of painters    
that the years have yielded4   ,the     
plates are printed by ,,bemrose  ,,sons1
 ,,ltd41 ,derby and ,london  ,the text  
at the ,,ballantyne ,,press1 ,edinburgh