Walters Art Museum Rediscovers Only Complete Set of Madame de Pompadour's Etchings
At the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, art historian Susan Wager has found the only existing complete edition of The Suite of Prints Engraved by Madame de Pompadour. This unique leather-bound collection contains 52 etchings made by Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, in the 1750s. The portfolio was acquired in 1895 by Henry Walters, the museum's founder, and only about 20 copies were ever made. The project featured Jacques Guay engraving designs on gemstones, with Pompadour herself etching the images, and a printmaker refining her work. This suite is essential for preserving Guay's lost pieces. Pompadour, born in 1721, was Louis XV’s royal mistress and a key cultural figure until her passing in 1764. The museum also holds separate prints from this collection.
Key facts
- Art historian Susan Wager rediscovered the only full remaining copy of The Suite of Prints Engraved by Madame de Pompadour After the Carved Gems of Jacques Guay at the Walters Art Museum
- The leather portfolio contains 52 etchings created by Madame de Pompadour in the 1750s, with probably no more than 20 copies produced
- Henry Walters, founder of the Walters Art Museum, purchased the suite from a Parisian book dealer in 1895
- Jacques Guay carved the gems at the Marquise's residence in Versailles and taught her gem carving
- François Boucher or Joseph-Marie Vien usually drew Guay's carved gems before Pompadour etched them onto metal plates
- Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721–1764) became Louis XV's royal mistress at 24; her official position ended in 1751 but she remained at court until her death
- Madame de Pompadour was a patron of the arts associated with Voltaire and Diderot and was painted by François Boucher and Maurice-Quentin de La Tour
- The suite preserves a record of Guay's gems, most of which are now lost, showing designs enlarged with diagrams of stone size and type
Entities
Artists
- Jeanne Antoinette Poisson
- Madame de Pompadour
- Marquise de Pompadour
- Louis XV
- François Boucher
- Maurice-Quentin de La Tour
- Jacques Guay
- Joseph-Marie Vien
- Voltaire
- Diderot
- Susan Wager
- Henry Walters
Institutions
- Walters Art Museum
- Fogg Museum
- Alte Pinakothek
- Wikimedia Commons
- DailyArt Magazine
Locations
- Versailles
- France
- Paris
- Baltimore
- United States
- Cambridge
- Massachusetts
- Munich
- Germany