Marie-Gabrielle Capet painted this portrait of the Paris lawyer Jean-Pierre Demetz (1753 – 1820)1 in two different techniques – in pastel and miniature. The large-format portrait doubtlessly preceded the locket.2 It shows the lawyer in exactly the same pose, but in clothing of a different colour. In the portrait, he is wearing a green coat over a patterned, ochre waistcoat. By contrast, the miniature shows the sitter much less grandly. The colours green and ochre have given way to black and grey, and the pattern on the waistcoat has been reduced to broad, vertical stripes. Capet presented the model as a quiet and thoughtful man. She emphasised these qualities in the miniature by leaving out decorative elements and choosing a monochrome grey area as the background. Curiously, she dated the pastel portrait “1801”, but dated the miniature in accordance with the republican calendar "an 9" ("Year 9", 22 September 1800 – 22 September 1801).
Marie-Gabrielle Capet certainly possessed great talent as a portrait painter in oils, pastel, and in miniature, but throughout her life she was overshadowed by her famous teacher, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.3 Capet worked as a pupil in Adélaïde’s studio for several years and copied some of her works in miniature format. Her own creations show the sitters in a more natural, reserved, and sensitive manner.