Madame Pompadour

Paris in Jul.y is the perfect excuse for me to feed my ATC addiction. I've spent quite some time searching the Internet for ladies of the Paris Court and had a lovely time making little works of art with their likenesses. So consider yourself warned, you are going to be subjected to A LOT of ATC's of the French nobility!
Today's contribution is Madame Pompadour. I liked the sound of the word "Pompadour", for some reason it makes me think of Liberace's hairdo. A contemporary of Marie Antoinette, she was the mistress of Louis XV (he may have had more, I didn't know him that well). She was born Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (that is the French word for "fish" by the way, not that it has anything to do with anything) and her father left his family in 1725 when she was four, to escape his creditors. Although she grew up to be well-read, artistic, intelligent and exceptionally graceful-her moderate birth and family history repelled suitors. Finally, her step-father bribed one of his own newphews to propose to her, using a generous marriage settlement as bait.
You've got to love a woman who has had to go through all that!