The Toilette of Venus

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The Toilette of Venus: Francois Boucher

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Francois Boucher Oil Painting - The Toilette of Venus

Keywords: Toilette, Venus

Work Overview: The Toilette of Venus
The Toilet of Venus
Francois Boucher
Date: 1751
Style: Rococo
Genre: mythological painting
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 42 5/8 x 33 1/2 in. (108.3 x 85.1 cm)
Location: Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, admired Boucher and was his patroness from 1747 until her death in 1764. This famous work was commissioned for the dressing room at Bellevue, her château near Paris. In 1750 she had acted the title role in a play, staged at Versailles, called The Toilet of Venus, and while this is not a portrait, a flattering allusion may have been intended.
The bodies of the goddess and her cupids are soft, supple, and blond. The carved and gilded rococo sofa, the silk, velvet, and gold damask drapery, are heavy and elaborate enough for the Victorian era.

No French painter of the 18th century was more inextricably linked to court patronage than François Boucher. This picture was commissioned by Madame de Pompadour as part of the decoration for her cabinet de toilette at the Château de Bellevue, one of the residences she shared with Louis XV. The cupids and the doves are attributes of Venus as goddess of Love. The flowers allude to her role as patroness of gardens and the pearls to her mysterious birth from the sea. As a painter of nudes Boucher ranks with Rubens in the 17th century and Renoir in the 19th; among his contemporaries he had no equal.

The toilet of Venus is a timeless theme of sensuous seduction. You can view other depictions of Venus at Her Toilet in the Web Gallery of Art.

This picture formed one of those panels. It shows the goddess of love surrounded by putti (winged little boys, traditional symbols of love). While it is clearly only a decorative panel, the dazzling surface technique, sensuous textures, and profusion of objects that seem to spill over at the boundaries, typify Boucher's work. Since it is widely accepted that the model for this Venus was Madam de Pompadour herself, the luxury surrounding the nubile woman is obviously a tribute not only to his patron but her actual wealth. The picture becomes a reflection of her fortune and status, and also of the idea of luxury itself. The glittering array of satins and silks reminds us of the rich life of ancien-regime France and one of its most profitable industries, the thriving silk weavers of Lyons, the center of European production.

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Francois Boucher

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