The painting shows Marie Antoinette wearing a red velvet gown with sable lining. Her younger son, the future Louis XVII, is sitting on her lap and her daughter, Marie-Thérèse, is leaning on her arm. Her elder son, Louis-Joseph, the Dauphin at the time, is near the empty cradle, intended for her younger daughter, Sophie-Béatrice, who died before the painting's completion.
