This site recreates life in the Varengeville Room, at two tables, and with lace to tell a story of original use and space. King Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour are the two main characters. 

The icons below will help you to navigate the site. The green circle with a marble bust of King Louis XV leads to information about male uses of objects and space, and the pink circle with a marble bust of Madame de Pompadour leads to information about female uses of objects and space. The colors used in the background of these marble busts come from Sèvres porcelain. 

 

 

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne the Younger, King Louis XV (1710-1744), King of France, probably commissioned by Mme de Pompadour, 1757. White marble. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941. Accession Number 41.100.244. 

 

 

 

 

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), 1748–5. White marble. Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Jules Bache Collection, 1949. Accession Number 49.7.70. 

 

 

 

NOTE: On future pages, to compare one page to its parallel opposite, click on the text accompanying the icon at the bottom right of the page. The icon at the bottom left of a page identifies the current page. Be sure to click on the text accompanying the icon, not the icon itself. 

Annotated images by Emma Snover.