In her earlier portraits of French nobility, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard had proven herself adept at rendering intricate details of elaborate clothing, furniture, and architecture. In Presumed Portrait of the Marquise de Lafayette, however, the artist demonstrates how effective an image she can create using a minimal number of elements. In 1774 Adrienne de Noailles, member of a powerful family of French aristocrats, had married the marquis de Lafayette. This portrait, presumed to depict her, was most likely painted in 1790. By that time the marquise's husband had already become well known in both French and American politics.

Appropriately, Labille-Guiard's sitter wears a simple dress of the type favored by women during the early years of the French Revolution. She wears no ornate jewelry. She is not posed in an elaborate architectural setting, and even the landscape behind the marquise is relatively restrained in keeping with the simplicity of her apparel and her pose. Her somewhat tentative smile emphasizes the sitter's physical attractiveness without unduly flattering her.

Because of her husband's affiliation with the French monarch, the marquise was arrested and imprisoned and narrowly escaped the guillotine (which her mother, sister, and grandmother did not). In 1795 the marquise voluntarily joined her husband in jail, bringing their two daughters with her. The family members were released in 1797 and retired to their home at Château La Grange, near Paris.

Several books have been devoted to the life story of Adrienne de Noailles, marquise de Lafayette, focusing on her remarkable strength of character, bravery, and self-discipline. Through a combination of hard work, political lobbying, and clever business sense, she is credited with having restored the family's fortune and properties seized during the revolution.