Maîtresse-en-titre
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The maîtresse-en-titre was the official royal mistress of the King of France. The title was vaguely defined and used in the Middle Ages but finally became an acknowledged, if informal, position during
Madame du Barry became a Maîtresse-en-titre despite her "low birth", which was considered scandalous.
Agnès Sorel
Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan
Madame de Pompadour
Madame du Barry
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Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse du Barry was the last maîtresse-en-titre of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being susp
Maîtresse-en-titre
…Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (better known as Madame de Pompadour) (1721–1764), marquise de Pompadour Marie-Jeanne Bécu (better known as Madame du Barry) (1743–1793), comtesse de Barry Louis XVIII (1755 – 1824…
Portrait of Jeanne Bécu, by François-Hubert Drouais in 1770: Museo del Prado
Madame du Barry, by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun; posthumous, between 1789 and 1805. Vigée Le Brun began working on the portrait in 1789, but had to abandon it when she underwent exile the same year, due to the French Revolution. Eventually, the portrait was given back to Vigée Le Brun, who completed it and gifted it to her niece.
The diamond necklace commissioned by King Louis XV for Madame du Barry (reproduction)