New Genres

For a New Genres class that I'm taking, I re-created the potions taken by mistresses to French kings. Diane de Portier, Marquise de Pompadour, and Madame de Montespan were my historical inspirations for this project. Mme. de Portier regularly ingested liquid gold, thus causing her eventual demise. Marquise de Pompadour reportedly drank a concoction of chocolate, celery, and amber. Mme. de Montespan, by far the most extreme case, was accused of drinking a potion made from the bones of babies. These three women went to extraordinary lengths in order to make their live more liveable; in other words, anything was worth doing in order to gain the ear of the king.