# Bust of Madame de Pompadour [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [PIGALLE, Jean-Baptiste]() - Date: 1751-1800 - Technique: Marble, height 76 cm ## Commentary This bust was commissioned by the superintendent of royal buildings and gardens, Charles-Francoi Le Normand de Tournehem, who was also the uncle of Madame de Pompadour. It was intended for her residence, the Château de Bellevue, which was completed shortly before the bust was finished. The bust is a delicate portrait; the lace at the marquise's bodice, the petals of the flowers crowning her hair, and the wisps that curl into the locks of her elaborate coiffure demanded the most subtle kind of work. Pigalle aimed for accuracy, and the sculptural portrait accord with painted ones of the period by <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/n/nattier/marc/pompadou.html'\)" href="/html/n/nattier/marc/pompadou.html">Jean-Marc Nattier</a> or <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/l/la\_tour/maurice/pompadou.html'\)" href="/html/l/la\_tour/maurice/pompadou.html">Maurice Quentin de La Tour.</a> ## Related artworks - [Bust of Madame de Pompadour]() - [Bust of Voltaire]() - [Bust of Voltaire]() - [Child with a Birdcage]() - [Child with a Birdcage]() - [Child with Birdcage]() - [Madame de Pompadour as Friendship]() - [Madame de Pompadour as Friendship]() - [Mausoleum of the Maréchal de Saxe \(detail\)]() - [Mausoleum of the Maréchal de Saxe \(detail\)]() - [Mausoleum of the Maréchal de Saxe]() - [Mausoleum of the Maréchal de Saxe]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()