born in Paris; celebrated for her beauty and wit; throwing herself, though a married woman, in the king's way, she took his fancy, and was installed at Versailles; for 20 years exercised an influence both over him and the affairs of the kingdom, to the corruption and ruin of both, and the exasperation of the nation; she was preceded as mistress of Louis by La Châteroux, and succeeded by Du Barri (1721-1764).
The Nuttall Encyclopedia. (1907)
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She was a patron of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire. Hostile critics at the time generally tarred her as a malevolent political influence, but historians are more favorable, emphasizing her successes as a patron of the arts and a champion of French pride.
Fortunately for the king, he found a partner who shared his love of all things delicious: Madame de Pompadour, who became Louis's official mistress in 1745. To Madame de Pompadour's many other charms was added her skill as a cook,
Thomas J. Craughwell. Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée, p.63 (2012)
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We should like to have known Mme. de Pompadour, who was so valuable a patron of the arts, and we should have been as much bored in her company as among the modern Egerias, at whose houses we cannot bring ourselves to pay a second call, so uninteresting do we find them.