A young Lady believed to be the Marquise de La Fayette, facing right in long-sleeved blue satin dress, white underdress with lace underslip, red sash with oval buckle, matching blue satin hat with white ostrich feather, gold loop earrings, powdered high-p

The identification of the sitter is based on a large scale oil version by Mademoiselle Capet's teacher Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, painted about 1790/1791 (illustrated in A. M. Passez, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Paris, 1973, p. 230, no. 110, pl. LXXXVIII). Marie-Adrienne de Noailles (1759-1807) was the wife of the famous General Marquis de La Fayette. During the French Revolution, she was imprisoned and miraculously escaped the guillotine. A less fortunate sitter, ill-fated Madame Roland de La Platière (1754-1793), is suggested by an old inscription on the backing paper of this miniature.