Hidden details in iconic portrait of Lavoisiers reveal fears of coming revolution

It feels as though everything you need to know about Antoine Lavoisier, prime architect of the late 18th century chemical revolution, is contained in the portrait of the French scientist painted in 1788 by Jacques-Louis David. He is both the classic Enlightenment sage, his scientific instruments gleaming on the table where he writes, and also an aristocrat surrounded by opulence, from the red velvet of the tablecloth to the sparse neoclassical elegance of the background. Most strikingly of all, he is not even the central figure of the portrait – for he sits gazing adoringly (or is it nervously?) at his wife Marie-Anne Pierrette Paulze-Lavoisier, her wig by far the more exuberant, her voluminous white dress outshining her husband’s sombre black. She looks out of the canvas with a cool, mildly amused gaze, her expression telling us who is really in charge here.