Rosalba Carriera

Rosalba Carriera , 1675-1757, Italian portrait and miniature painter, one of the greatest of her day. At 24 she had achieved a reputation throughout Italy and abroad for her miniatures and crayon portraits. In 1705 she was elected to the Academy of St. Luke (Rome), the Academy of Bologna, and the Florence Academy. In 1720 she visited Paris, where she painted the portraits of the young Louis XV, the regent, and other court figures. Returning to Italy, she visited the courts of Modena, Parma, and Vienna, receiving honors and commissions wherever she went. Her portraits are delicate in color and vivacious. She is well represented in most of the European galleries. Muse Crowned with Laurel is in the Louvre.

Carriera, Rosalba (b Venice, 7 Oct. 1675; d Venice, 15 Apr. 1757). Venetian pastel portraitist, the sister-in-law of Pellegrini. She had a European reputation and made triumphant visits to Paris (1720–1) and Vienna (1730). Her success helped to popularize pastel; Maurice Quentin de La Tour, for example, was converted to the medium through his admiration for her. It is now hard to appreciate why there should have been so much enthusiasm for her work, which is highly accomplished but generally rather insipid. After becoming blind in 1746, she had her sight temporarily restored by an operation, but lost it permanently in 1749 and retired into a state of melancholy dejection.

Carriera, Rosalba (1675–1757). Venetian pastel portraitist, the sister-in-law of Pellegrini. She had a European reputation and made triumphant visits to Paris (1720–1) and Vienna (1730). Her success helped to popularize pastel; Maurice-Quentin de La Tour, for example, was converted to the medium through his admiration for her. It is now hard to appreciate why her work, which is highly accomplished but generally rather insipid, should have aroused such enthusiasm. After becoming blind in 1746, she had her sight temporarily restored by an operation, but lost it permanently in 1749 and retired into a state of melancholy dejection.