A quick question, which you may have covered already! (Ah, Tumblr search...)
Which portrait of young Lafayette is considered to be the most accurate? There are quite a few, and while some of his features remain fairly consistent, there's certainly variety too (and, of course, artists loved to flatter their rich and important subjects).
A quick question and a very slow response. I am so sorry but as they say: Was lange währt, wird endlich gut …
Since I am not quite sure what specific age spectrum you had in mind, I am going to give a broad response.
There are three portraits of La Fayette in his early youth (pre-teen to early teenage years), although one of them I have only seen referenced in writing. There are not many descriptions of La Fayette during this time of his life, but still these portraits can be considered quite accurate, based on what we do know.
I know of three or so portraits of La Fayette in his mid to late teen years – there are even less physical descriptions of La Fayette from that time. One of these portraits is part of set of portraits, made of La Fayette and Adrienne shortly before their wedding. If you were to ask me, that portrait is indeed too flattering.
Once La Fayette came to America, we have two paintings of him (or featuring him) by Charles Willson Peale and I would consider them the most accurate depictions we have of him in his younger years. Do I find them artistically pleasing and generally well done? Honestly, no, but they tick many important boxes.
Then there is also this print.
This print has many variations (different angles, standing, sitting, looking to the side, looking at the viewer) and that alone makes assessment difficult. But these types of prints are closely linked to each other and to the bust by Houdon. Houdon was not only extremely skilled, he also took a life mask from La Fayette, therefor having a perfect cast of his features. The paintings by Peale show more detail and is easier to pin to a specific date/age but I would nevertheless consider these prints (with all the restrictions and problems listed above) to be faithful representations.
I hope this helps and was not too late and I hope you had a wonderful day!
