Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, in a court dress

Drouais's 1773 portrait of the young Marie Antoinette, four years before her marriage to the Dauphin and three years after her arrival in France from Vienna, documents the Austrian princess at the beginning of her French career. Drouais was the official portraitist of the French court and his portrait of the young dauphine served both documentary and diplomatic functions — recording her appearance for distribution to foreign courts and demonstrating to French society the beauty and bearing of the woman who would be their queen. Marie Antoinette would later commission Vigée Le Brun for her most famous portraits, but Drouais's early rendering captures her youth before the formidable mature identity she would construct.

Drouais's oil on canvas demonstrates his mastery of state portraiture with lavish rendering of the elaborate court dress, jewels, and ermine, combined with the dignified compositional format required for royal representation.