An exhibition of miniatures on ivory by Rosalba Carriera at Ca' Rezzonico

At the headquarters of Ca’ Rezzonico - Museo del Settecento Veneziano, the Municipality of Venice and Fondazione MUVE are proposing from October 13, 2023 to January 9, 2024 the exhibition Rosalba Carriera. Miniatures on Ivory, curated by Alberto Craievich, and dedicated to the most famous Italian artist ineighteenth-century Europe.

On display are thirty-six works on ivory, along with pastels, documents, drawings, and prints, from the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, other institutions, and private collections. An opportunity to admire these works of extraordinary delicacy. For nearly half a century, the courts of Europe sought to grab her services, yet despite frequent invitations and generous proposals, except for three sojourns at the court of the king of France, the duke of Modena and the emperor’s court in Vienna, Rosalba preferred to remain in Venice, where she worked ceaselessly throughout her life.

She is credited with the most acute portrayal of the characters of Venetian and European society in the eighteenth century, and her contribution to French portraiture itself was fundamental.

In addition to devoting herself to pastel portraiture, she was also an excellent painter of miniatures on ivory, which she elevated from a craft practice to a true art. Through an innovative technique Rosalba was able to bring, for the first time, to the tiny surface of ivory bottoms the loose, vibrant brushwork of painting on canvas. Success was immediate. There was no traveler who during his Venetian sojourn did not aspire to have a miniature portrait made of Rosalba. However, their number of these small works is much smaller than the pastels.

Image: Rosalba Carriera, Portrait of a Gentlewoman, detail (Venice, Ca’ Rezzonico - Museo del Settecento veneziano)

An exhibition of miniatures on ivory by Rosalba Carriera at Ca' Rezzonico

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