Rosalba Carriera Giclée Fine Art Prints

Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757) was a Venetian Rococo painter and miniaturist, widely considered one of the greatest female artists ever. She made an impactful mark through her pastel paintings which helped popularize this technique throughout eighteenth-century Europe.

Rosalba Carriera was born in Venice to Andrea Carriera, an attorney, and Alba Foresti, an embroiderer and lace maker. Together with her mother and sisters Rosalba became involved with embroidery, lace-making and other crafts; nevertheless she remains unknown as the reason for establishing her own studio as an artist.

Carriera began her artistic career by painting portraits and allegorical subjects on miniature canvases, quickly earning recognition in Italy's artistic establishment and earning acceptance into Rome's Accademia di San Luca by 1704.

Carriera began his pastel experiments in the early 1700s, an area traditionally reserved for informal sketches only. But her delicate and lifelike portraits soon gained immense popularity among aristocracy.

In 1720, Carriera traveled to Paris where she was welcomed with great acclaim. Soon thereafter she was commissioned by members of the French court (including Louis XV ) and became a member of the Royal Academy.

Carriera returned to Venice in 1721 and continued painting portraits until her sight began failing in the late 1740s; she died there aged 84 in 1757.

Carriera's artwork is known for its delicate brushwork, soft colors and attention to detail. Her portraits often capture intimate and introspective scenes that reveal a person's inner world or personality. Carriera also created works that reflect fashions from the eighteenth century such as hairstyles worn at that time and often painted her subjects wearing elaborate costumes.

Carriera was known for her portraiture but also created allegorical and mythological paintings which can be found in major museums worldwide such as the Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and National Gallery London.

Carriera was an integral figure in the development of Rococo style in Europe, her pastel portraits being widely admired for their delicacy and realism - helping popularize pastel medium among other artists. Her success as a woman artist in an otherwise male-dominated field was equally admirable and set an example for future women artists to follow her lead.