The Cupid Seller

She rose from the commonfolk and seduced Louis XV – who had never visited brothels – with a catalogue of erotic refinement she had learned in her practice of the oldest profession. An honest and respectful seller of love, she preferred clothing with soft, flowing lines that enhanced the body’s natural forms to the court’s excessive makeup, corsets, and ceremonial attire. Her inclination for luxurious simplicity was also reflected in her artistic preferences: she preferred the austerity of Joseph-Marie Vien, a representative of the dawning Neoclassical style, tempered by a certain grace, to the frivolity of Fragonard and the Rocaille style. Unbeknownst to her, her tastes, which gave rise to what would be called the “du Barry style,” coincided with those espoused by the very revolutionaries who would one day send her to the guillotine.