Portrait of Marie-Louis O’Murphy (Nude on a Sofa)
In addition to the more prominent mistress of King Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, of which Boucher painted many portraits, the artist also produced other portraits of he King’s mistresses. Marie-Louis O’Murphy was a younger one of these mistresses to the King. This painting was commissioned when she was only fourteen years of age, and when it was presented to the King, he quickly took her as one of his courtesans. She soon became one of his favorites, and produced him an illegitimate daughter, Agathe. After only two years at court, she unwisely tried to unseat her rival, the King’s mistress Madame de Pompadour. A marriage was arranged for her and she was sent away from the court. After the death of her first husband, she married twice more, the third marriage ending in divorce.
