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Louise MurphyFavorite of King Louis XV, model by artist François Boucher.
Date of Birth: 21.10.1737
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Louise O'Murphy: The Favorite of King Louis XV and Model for François Boucher
Louise O'Murphy (Marie-Louise O'Murphy) was born on October 21, 1737, in Rouen and passed away on December 11, 1814, in Paris. She was the fifth daughter of Daniel O'Murphy, a former Irish soldier and shoemaker from Rouen. After her father's death, her mother moved with the children to Paris, where she sold second-hand clothing and the daughters worked as models and actresses. At the age of 15 in 1752, Louise posed for François Boucher for his famous painting "The Resting Girl." Her beauty did not go unnoticed, and one of the courtiers presented her to King Louis XV. She became the king's favorite and soon gave birth to their illegitimate daughter, Agathe Louise de Saint-Antoine (1754-1774). General de Beaufranche was also rumored to be the product of this relationship.
A Failed Attempt to Replace Madame de Pompadour
Being the king's favorite for two years, Louise O'Murphy made the common mistake shared by many favorites - she attempted to replace the powerful Marquise de Pompadour. However, her attempt failed, and Louise O'Murphy was married off to a nobleman and sent away from the court. She married two more times, with her last husband being thirty years younger than her, but all marriages ended in divorce. During the French Revolution, she was briefly imprisoned for her connections to the court and lived through the Terror and the years of revolutionary turmoil that followed. She passed away in 1814 at the age of 77.
She is mentioned in Casanova's memoirs: "I gave six louis d'or to a German painter for him to paint her in the nude from life, and she came out as if alive. He portrayed her lying on her stomach, propping herself up with her hands and breasts on a pillow, and holding her head as if lying on her back. The skilled artist drew her legs and thighs in a way that left nothing to be desired. At the bottom, I had him write: O-Morphi. This word is not from Homer, but it is quite Greek; it means Beautiful."