The Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva brings together art history, portraiture and research in Liotard and Marie Antoinette. At the heart of the exhibition is Jean-Étienne Liotard (1702–1789), one of Maria Theresa of Austria’s favoured portraitists. The exhibition takes a closer look at a group of drawings of the imperial children and explores, with the help of art historians, researchers and forensic techniques, who exactly is depicted in these eighteenth-century portraits.

A portrait of Marie Antoinette from The Phoebus Foundation collection is also included in the exhibition, dated c.1770–1774. It shows her as a young archduchess and future queen of France, presented in a carefully staged courtly setting in which dress, posture and gaze convey her status as much as her likeness. Within the exhibition, the portrait forms part of a broader story about identity, representation and dynastic image-making.

The exhibition Liotard and Marie Antoinette runs from 3 October 2026 to 7 February 2027 at the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva. More information and tickets via mahmah.ch.