Born: 6 September 1761, France
Died: 1 November 1818
Country most active: France
Also known as: NA
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Marie-Gabrielle Capet was a prominent French Neoclassical painter. Despite her humble beginnings, she achieved artistic excellence after becoming a pupil of the renowned French painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard in Paris in 1781. Capet excelled in portraiture, creating a diverse body of work that included oil paintings, watercolors, and delicate miniatures.
Marie-Gabrielle Capet’s collection of small portraits, mostly in The Louvre, includes works featuring Madame Martin de Lesseps, Madame Elisabeth (Louis XVI’s sister), and Mademoiselle Mars.
Although little is known about Capet’s body of work, some miniatures are thought to be her creations, possibly depicting Madame Elisabeth. Labille-Guiard also famously painted Madame Elisabeth. One unsigned miniature, believed to be of Madame Elisabeth, can be found at the Musée du Louvre. It shows a woman in a white dress with a dark sash. Other miniatures signed by Capet have unknown locations.