Portrait of Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier and his wife

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier is recognized as the founder of modern chemistry. He was born in Paris in 1743, the son of wealthy parents, both lawyers, but after a liberal education that included the study of law, it was clear that his interests lay in the field of natural sciences. He inherited a fortune from his mother, but to fund his research and earn an income, he invested in membership of Ferme Générale, a consortium that had the contract to collect taxes and customs duties on behalf of the French Crown.

In 1771, Lavoisier married Marie-Anne-Pierrette Paulze, the 14-year-old daughter of a fellow 'fermier. She was a very talented draftsman who appears to have studied under David and later used her skills to illustrate her husband's various treatises. . He also learned English and Latin so he could translate scientific works from those languages to aid Lavoisier's studies.

This splendid double portrait was completed in the catastrophic year of 1789. The rich, urbane scientist and his wife could not foresee the consequences for themselves, for France and for Europe of the upheavals following the storming of the Bastille on July 14. Both the artist and the chemist were affected by the political turmoil that followed. Despite Lavoisier's liberal views and the fact that he served the revolutionary government in various roles (working on the commission that planned the adoption of the metric system, for example), since the guiding impetus that drove the revolution became more and more radical, The rise of an extreme Jacobin faction led by Maximilien Robespierre, his previous activities as a tax farmer led to his arrest and execution during the Terror of 1794.

The creator of this painting, Jacques-Louis David, was born on August 30, 1748 in Paris, France, as the most famous French artist of his time and one of the main exponents of the late 18th century neoclassical reaction against the Rococo style. . He died on December 29, 1825 in Brussels, Belgium.