Brescia, an important collection of miniatures by Rosalba Carriera on full display

Until January 8, 2023, the Paolo and Carolina Zani Foundation in Cellatica (Brescia) is dedicating an exhibition to Rosalba Carriera ( Venice, 1673 - 1757), entitled Rosalba Carriera. The Venetian who portrayed eighteenth-century Europe. The exhibition-dossier presents the most intimate production of what critics have called the “prima pittrice de l’Europa”: the protagonist of an unrepeatable artistic season, Rosalba Carriera is celebrated here through thirty miniatures she painted between about 1710 and 1730, from a private collection in London, displayed in their entirety for the first time in the Casa Museo Zani.

An extraordinary Venetian-born painter and miniaturist, Rosalba is a contemporary of Canaletto, Guardi, Tiepolo, and other masters well documented in the Casa Museo Zani collection. The exhibition aims to offer a female gaze into the artistic production of the eighteenth century lagoon, documenting an extraordinary moment in art history in which a Venetian painter became a refined and sought-after interpreter of portraiture at some of the most important European courts. From the time of her apprenticeship, Rosalba excelled in the art of painting miniatures and chose ivory as the medium for her delicate pastel strokes, thus succeeding in lending luster and splendor to her works. She soon turned to portraits of famous people, and such was her fame that the then very young King of France Louis XV invited her to court in 1720 to depict his family. In Paris, where Carriera stayed for about a year, she also joined the Royal Academy of Painting, a case, that of a woman painter, clearly destined to remain exceptional. The Parisian period is an extremely important time of mutual influence with the well-known Rococo painter Jean-Antoine Watteau, of whom she made one of the most famous portraits, and of sophisticated frequentations of intellectual circles. Many were the nobles of the court of Versailles who aspired to have a portrait of him. After sojourns at the courts of Modena and Vienna, however, Rosalba returned to Venice, where she started a flourishing “women’s” workshop, and it was in Venice that she died in 1757, afflicted by a cruel blindness that had led her to give up painting as early as the mid-1840s.

On display in the Casa Museo Zani are some portraits of gentlemen, gentlewomen, French, English and Austrian nobles. Among them are the beautiful miniature with the effigy of Jean Baptiste Estival, a high official in the administration of the reign of Louis XIV, and those with the Anglo-Irish William Ponsonby, first Viscount Duncannon and second Earl of Bessborough, and William Murray, Marquis of Tullibardine, a Scottish nobleman. Also deserving of special mention among these fine portraits is that of Augustus III Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, wrapped in a regal ermine stole. Some crowned heads such as Princess Grimaldi, Princess Mary and Maria Josef of Austria, Archduchess of Austria, Electress of Saxony and Queen Consort of the Polish-Lithuanian Confederation, also stand out among the female portraits. Rosalba’s portraits reveal a great introspective attention aimed at investigating psychological aspects of the personage effigy and the motions of the soul, but also a lenticular attention to the details of clothing and hairstyles, an expression of the taste and style of her time, as well as a faithful insight into the fashion history of the first half of the 18th century. In Rosalba’s portraits, in addition to the delicate poses of the subjects, there is great sensitivity in reproducing the vaporous fabrics and precious lace. The draperies of the gowns, the trimmings and lacework are always highlighted by a lively and particular light, as, for example, can be seen in the small genre scene depicting a lady with fan and man with larva and tricorn, a snapshot of the Venetian dolce vita that documents the elegance of the European aristocracy of the 18th century, all decked out in the French manner. Alongside the portraits, a number of miniatures with mythological subjects appear in the exhibition, characterized by a marked idealization of the figures that allows Rosalba to reach absolute heights of grace and poetry. This is the case with the beautiful picture with Venus and Love in which the goddess’s very white complexion is striking, the delicate pose of her arms encircling in a soft oval the little Cupid.

Then among the subjects dearest to Carriera are allegories. He made many cycles of them, but did not produce copies. Those dedicated to the seasons or the four elements deserve special attention, such as theAllegory of Water on display in the exhibition, in which a young woman pours water from a cruet into a pitcher. The exhibition closes with a rare self-portrait in miniature that also reveals Rosalba’s identity and is part of a series of self-portraits the artist made between her youth and old age, preserved in Venice at the Museo del Settecento at Ca’ Rezzonico, the Gallerie dell’Accademia, Dresden and Florence. The work on display portrays her in a mature stage with her face framed by a cascade of tidy brown curls, her gaze sharp, her thin lips barely hinting at an ironic smile. Again Rosalba pauses to describe the details of the dress. The painter wears a chemise embellished with a jabot at the neck, while the lapels of the scarlet surcoat are embellished with gold thread embroidery. An almost masculine style, very unusual for a woman of the time, but perfectly representative of the eclectic and modern personality of Rosalba, the absolute protagonist of an art dense with emotions and shades of the soul.

The exhibition is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission: 10 euros full price, 7 euros reduced. For information: 030-2520479, www.fondazionezani.com

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Brescia, an important collection of miniatures by Rosalba Carriera on full display

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