Rosalba Carriera

Painter

• Born: October 7, 1675
• Birthplace: Venice, Italy
• Died: April 15, 1757
• Place of death: Venice, Italy

Significance: Rosalba Carriera was an Italian painter during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Carriera became an internationally renowned painter at a time when few women were considered true artists. She was known for her innovative miniatures painted on ivory and for her use of pastels in serious portraits.

Background

Rosalba Carriera was born on October 7, 1675, in Venice, Italy. Her father, Andrea Carriera, was a city official, and her mother, Alba Foresti Carriera, was a lace maker. Carriera had two sisters, Giovanna and Angela. Little is known about her early education in the arts, but some experts believe that her interest in the field may have been sparked by her grandfather, who was a painter.

Carriera initially began her foray into art by designing patterns for her mother's lace. She then started painting miniature portraits on snuffboxes. These boxes usually held tobacco, and they were often made of ivory. The French painter Jean Steve encouraged Carriera to work in this medium.

Painting on ivory was a difficult endeavor, as the material did not absorb paint well. However, Carriera came up with a technique that allowed her to make beautiful miniature portraits. She used transparent washes on the areas where her subjects' skin showed, allowing the ivory to peek through. This gave the skin a lit-from-within look that was extremely appealing.

Carriera used this technique in a piece called Self-Portrait as "Innocence." Carriera used herself as the model for this piece, which shows a young woman, who is meant to represent innocence, holding a dove. The painting was the piece she submitted to gain entrance to the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. One account says that the officials were astonished by her work. They soon made her a member of the academy on merit, without her having to go through the normal procedures for admittance.

Life's Work

By the early 1700s, Carriera had sent some of her paintings to Paris, France, and she was receiving requests for work. Around this time, Carriera began working in pastels. Pastels are sticks of colored pigment that include a binder. Although pastels were used for sketching, they were not considered a medium suitable for serious portraiture by many artists of the era.

However, Carriera found that she could work much faster with pastels than she could using oils. She could churn out a large number of portraits in a fraction of the time with pastels, and her subjects would not have to sit for her for many tedious hours like they had to when she was using oils. Pastels also seemed to complement Carriera's style. The colors gave her work, which is often characterized as Rococo, a soft and beautiful look. Art historians also note how Carriera took care to present her subjects in the best possible manner without removing the features that made them unique.

Experts also note that Carriera was not as forgiving when she was the subject of the painting. The artist, who painted many self-portraits during her career, was much more honest in her representations of her own image, which was considered by many to be plain.

Carriera became well known throughout Italy for her work. She soon gained admittance to the art academies in Bologna and Florence. Carriera also painted many important and famous subjects over the years. In 1713, Augustus III, the king of Poland, visited Venice and met Carriera. The next year, the king commissioned Carriera to paint an oil portrait of him. Augustus later commissioned more works from the painter. Some of her other works in oil included series, such as The Four Seasons, which shows four scantily dressed women representing spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Success Abroad

Although Carriera enjoyed great success in Italy, a friend of hers convinced her to travel to France and take her talents abroad. Pierre Crozat was a French businessman and art lover. He believed that Carriera would be the talk of Paris if she came to stay with him and his family.

Crozat's prediction proved correct. In 1720, Carriera, who traveled with her family to France, made an immediate impression on the Parisian art scene. In fact, one of her first subjects was the young king, Louis XV. After capturing the young monarch, Carriera was overwhelmed with requests from France's most wealthy and prestigious citizens to paint their portraits as well.

By October 1720, Carriera had been made a member of the French Academy, even though the institution had a rule that would not allow any more women to join. Carriera and her use of pastels also inspired many other artists, including several women. Among them were Magdalene Basseporte, Theresa Concordia Mengs, and Marie Suzanne Giroust-Roslin. Some experts believe that Carriera even taught Basseporte how to work with pastels herself.

Despite the fame she had gained in France, Carriera decided to return to Italy in the spring of 1721. She lived with her now widowed mother and sister Giovanna in a large apartment on the Grand Canal. After this, Carriera traveled little. One exception was the six months she spent in Vienna, Austria, where she painted for Holy Roman emperor Charles VI.

In 1737, the loss of her sister Giovanna, who had also been her assistant, sent Carriera into a deep depression. In addition, she was gradually losing her sight, and she eventually lost the ability to paint. She spent the last ten years of her life completely blind. Carriera died on April 15, 1757.

Impact

Carriera was one of the few famous female painters at a time when women were generally not respected as artists. Not only did she paint some of the most well-known figures of her time, but she also inspired many other artists and helped pioneer the use of pastels in serious works of art. Her work continues to be admired in museums around the world.

Personal Life

Carriera's father died in 1719. She spent most of her life living with her sister Giovanna and her mother. Carriera later lived with her sister Angela, who was a widow by that time.

Principal Works: Paintings

• Self-Portrait as "Innocence," 1705
• Self-Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister, 1709
• King Augustus III of Poland, 1714
• The Four Seasons, 1725
• The Four Elements, 1745
• Self-Portrait, 1746

Bibliography

"Carriera, Rosalba (1675–1757)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 1, Yorkin Publications, 2007, p. 334.

Morgan, Barbara. "Carriera, Rosalba (1675–1757)." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, edited by Anne Commire, vol. 3, Yorkin Publications, 2002, pp. 416–18.

"Rosalba Carriera—Artworks" Athenaeum, www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?m=a&s=tu&aid=4211. Accessed 1 Feb. 2018.

"Rosalba Carriera 1675–1757." National Museum of Women in the Arts, nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/rosalba-carriera. Accessed 1 Feb. 2018.

"Rosalba Giovanna Carriera (Venice 1675-Venice 1757) Self-Portrait as 'Innocence' c.1705–1757." Royal Collection Trust, www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/420544/self-portrait-as-innocence. Accessed 1 Feb. 2018.

Rosenthal, Angela H. "Women and Art." Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, vol. 6, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, pp. 240–46.

Russo, Kathleen. "Carriera, Rosalba." Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, vol. 1, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004, pp. 395–97.