How does this artwork elucidate its History?
David was paid 7,000 livres for the portrait on 16 December 1788. It was not permitted to be put on public display at the Paris Salon for fear that an image of Lavoisier – a figure connected to the royal court and the Ancien Régime – might provoke anti-aristocratic aggression from viewers.In 1836, the painting was left by Marie-Anne to her great-niece, and it remained in the collection of the comtesse de Chazelles and her descendants until 1924, when it was bought by John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller gave it to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in 1927, and it was acquired from this institution by the Metropolitan Museum in 1977.
Paris Salon Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research Lavoisier John D. Rockefeller Ancien Régime