Madame Jacques-Louis-Étienne Reizet (Colette-Désirée-Thérèse Godefroy, 1782–1850)

Anne-Louis Girodet's portrait of Madame Reizet of 1823, one of his late works, depicts a fashionable young woman of the Restoration period with the refined elegance that characterized Girodet's portraiture throughout his career. The portrait demonstrates his continued mastery of female portraiture in his final years, combining precise draftsmanship with the warm coloring he had developed through decades of practice. Girodet was one of the most technically versatile painters of his generation, moving between literary subjects, mythological compositions, and social portraits with equal facility.

Girodet renders the sitter with refined elegance and smooth modeling characteristic of the Neoclassical portrait tradition. The careful attention to the fabric of her dress and the soft lighting create an image of quiet dignity.