Slideshow: Obscene Portrayals of Madame de Pompadour
In the feature article of our November issue, 'The Other Cheek', Colin Jones and Emily Richardson reveal a little-known collection of obscene and irreverent caricatures targetting Madame de Pompadour from a book of drawings entitled the Livre de caricatures tant Bonnes que mauvaises.
The 'Book of Caricatures both Good and Bad' was composed over almost 30 years from the 1740s to the 1770s. The man responsible for them was Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin, who was, from the 1740s, embroidery designer at the royal court.
Click on the image above to beging the slideshow.
- Listen to Colin Jones speaking about the caricatures on the History Today podcast
This Month's Magazine
Newsletter
From The Current Issue
Claudia Baldoli
|
Nigel Jones
|
Richard Jones
|
Mihir Bose
|
History Today App
Follow Us
From The Archive
 The Hudson's Bay Company was one of the central forces moulding the development of the vast tracts of land that today are Canada - but as Barry Gough explains here, the circumstances of its launch in 1670 also reveal much about the commercial forces, personalities and rivalries of Restoration England. |
On This Day In History
Richard Cavendish describes the execution of James Graham, Marquess of Montrose, on May 21st, 1650.
