before proceeding to the guillotine) were still too fresh for the public. The scandal may also have been caused by the imagery of the portrait, which emphasized the increased visibility of women in political life, and may also have awoken the spectre of Marie Antoinette who stood accused of having brought the nation to the brink because of her sexual impulses and political ambitions. A few days before the closing of the 1796 Salon, the portrait of Thérésa Tallien was returned to the exhibition after Laneuville had made some changes to it. Notes External links 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters Pupils of Jacques-Louis David 1748 births 1826 deaths 18th-century French male artists