Marie Anne Lavoisier stands beside Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, resting her right arm on a table covered in red velvet, while her left hand touches her husband's shoulder. Antoine Laurent Lavoisier is seated, dressed in a black vest, knee breeches, stockings, and buckled shoes, with a white shirt and lace jabot, his head turned toward his wife. The couple face the viewer, their heads shown in three-quarters profile, with Marie Anne looking directly outward and Antoine’s gaze turned toward her.

The table is crowded with scientific instruments and documents: a barometer, a gasometer, a water still, a glass bell jar, and a casket are arranged among stacks of papers. On the floor to the right of the table, a large round-bottom flask and a brass tap rest together, reflecting the laboratory setting. At the far left, a chair holds a large document-case and a piece of black cloth, partially concealed by Marie Anne’s dress.

The background features a wood-paneled floor and walls painted to resemble marble, with three classical pilasters dividing the space. The composition places Marie Anne in a standing posture physically above her seated husband, an arrangement that diverges from typical late eighteenth-century portraits of married couples. The paint surface is smooth, with crisp lines and careful modeling of textures, from the sheen of the velvet to the shine of glass and metal.

The figures and objects are rendered with fine detail, each fold of fabric and surface reflection distinctly described. Jacques-Louis David completed this double portrait in 1788, depicting Antoine Lavoisier and Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier in their office. The work is signed by the artist at the lower left: L DAVID, PARISIIS ANNO, 1788. The painting belongs to the Neoclassicism and academic art movements.

It is recognized as a double portrait, showing both a man and a woman, and includes references to Antoine Lavoisier’s scientific work through the presence of laboratory flasks and instruments. The Metropolitan Museum of Art notes that technical examination has revealed significant changes made by the artist during the painting’s development.