Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, the great rival of Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, became the favourite portrait painter of Louis XV’s daughters, then of the deputés of the Revolution.  According to the words in the letter, this was a woman on the point of leaving her children.  The artist had a predilection for accessories and rich fabrics, and plays with the contrast between the luxury of the satin and the transparency of the headdress and scarf, and the dramatic simplicity of the decor.  The feminine ideal of the Revolution, revealed by this portrait, has long been identified as that of Madame Roland.