Rosalba Carriera, Miniature su avorio | Courtesy Ca’ Rezzonico – Museo del Settecento Veneziano

To celebrate the three hundred and fifty years since the birth of Rosalba Carriera (1673 - 1757), the Venetian artist who became the most famous in 18th century Europe, the Municipality of Venice and the MUVE Foundation present in the renovated headquarters of Ca' Rezzonico – Museo del Settecento Veneziano, a precious exhibition that delves into a particular aspect of the painter's production: miniatures on ivory. In fact, Rosalba Carriera, known for her pastel portraits, was also an extraordinary painter of miniatures, which she began to execute first on snuffboxes and then on ivory. Not everyone knows that the fortune of this artistic genre is due to her, elevated from a "minor" and artisanal practice to the same dignity as works on canvas. Through an innovative technique and her great skill, Rosalba Carriera managed to bring, for the first time, the fluid and vibrant brushstroke of painting on canvas onto the very small surface of the ivory bases, achieving immediate success. There was no traveler at the time who, passing through Venice, did not wish to have a miniature portrait realized by the famous painter.

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