Charles François Paul Le Normant De Tournehem
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Charles François Paul Le Normant de Tournehem (30 December 1684– 27 November 1751) was a French
financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...
, a '' fermier-général'', or tax-farmer. He is best known for his connection with Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson (1721–1764), future marquise de Pompadour. Her legal guardian from 1725, after her official father was forced to leave the country, he may have been her natural father. He raised her and educated her with care, and he married her in 1741 to his nephew, Charles-Guillaume Le Normant d'Étiolles, from whom she was separated in 1745 at the request of
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
. Thanks to the influence of Madame de Pompadour, Le Normant de Tournehem was made ''directeur général'' of the
Bâtiments du Roi The Bâtiments du Roi (, 'King's Buildings') was a division of the Maison du Roi ('King's Household') in France under the Ancien Régime. It was responsible for building works at the King's residences in and around Paris. History The Bâtiments ...
in December 1745, succeeding Philibert Orry. He held this post, overseeing royal building works, until his death. "Without artistic prejudices," Fiske Kimball observed, "he was a man of ability, honesty and simplicity, who devoted himself to efficient administration." Le Normant de Tournehem reinstated the post of ''premier peintre du Roi'' which had been allowed to lapse, in favour of Charles-Antoine Coypel, upon whose artistic advice he wisely depended. Coypel's own advisors were the comte de Caylus, the brilliant and tireless
antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...
and founder of archaeology, who had been an advisor to Orry and was a close friend of the connoisseur
Pierre-Jean Mariette Pierre-Jean Mariette (; 7 May 1694 – 10 September 1774) was a collector of and dealer in old master prints, a renowned connoisseur, especially of prints and drawings, and a chronicler of the careers of French Italian and Flemish artists. He ...
, and Abbé Leblanc, an early critic of the excesses of the
Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
and an advocate of a chastened simplicity in the arts of design.Kimball 1943. In his role of director of the Bâtiments du Roi, Le Normant de Tournehem oversaw the design and construction of the
Château de Bellevue The Château de Bellevue () was a small château built for Madame de Pompadour in 1750. It was constructed on a broad plateau in Meudon, above a slope overlooking the Seine to the east, but was demolished in 1823 and little remains. History At ...
, which served as a discreet meeting ground for Madame de Pompadour and the King. At his death, his successor at the Bâtiments du Roi was Pompadour's capable and carefully prepared brother, Abel-François Poisson, marquis de Vandières, soon to be awarded the title by which posterity knows him, the Marquis de Marigny.


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*Fiske Kimball, ''Creation of the Rococo'' (Philadelphia Museum of Art) 1943 {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Normant De Tournehem, Charles Francois Paul French financiers Businesspeople from Paris 1684 births 1751 deaths Heads of the Bâtiments du Roi Fermiers généraux