Marie Denise Villers was a French portrait painter, born in Paris. Villers was born into an accomplished artistic family, and was a student of the French painter Girodet. She first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1799.

Villers was also a student of Jacques-Louis David, and her most famous painting “Young Woman Drawing” was at one time attributed to him. This drawing is thought to be a self-portrait of Villers, and is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.