Marie Antoinette and Her Children is an
oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, painted in 1787. It shows
Marie Antoinette, the consort of
King Louis XVI of France, wearing a red velvet gown with a sable lining. Her younger son, the future
Louis XVII, sits on her lap, while her daughter
Marie-Thérèse leans on her arm. Marie Antoinette's elder son,
Louis Joseph, at that time
Dauphin of France, is near an empty cradle intended for her younger daughter Sophie, who died before the painting's completion. The work was commissioned by Louis XVI in an effort to improve the public perception of Marie Antoinette, after her reputation was tarnished by the
Affair of the Diamond Necklace, by focusing on her role as a queen and a mother; she is depicted with little jewellery. The painting was first shown at the
Salon in Paris, to mixed reactions, and is now displayed at the
Palace of Versailles.
Painting credit: Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
