Portrait of Rosalba Carriera

Portrait of Rosalba Carriera – after Self-Portrait Holding a Portrait of Her Sister, oil on canvas, 2023

Rosalba Carriera (12 January 1673[1][2] – 15 April 1757) was a Venetian Rococo painter. In her younger years, she specialized in portrait miniatures. Carriera would later become known for her pastel portraits, helping popularize the medium in eighteenth-century Europe. She is remembered as one of the most successful women artists of any era…
Carriera was the first female painter to initiate a new style in the art community.[16] The Rococo style emphasized the use of pastel colors; spontaneous brush strokes, dancing lights, subtle surface tonalities and a soft, elegant and charming approach to subject matter. She was known for dragging the sides of white chalk across an under-drawing of darker tones to capture the shimmering texture of lace and satin. She was also able to highlight facial features and the soft cascades of powdered hair.[10] Because of her, artists created work in the style for nearly a century.
Her best-known self-portrait is one she contributed to the Medici collection of self-portraits at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. This piece was different because she veered away from idealizing herself, as was a custom of the era. Instead, she was brusque and honest in her representation, featuring a larger nose, thin lips and a deep dimple in her chin. She holds a portrait of her sister and assistant Giovanna, whom she was very close to…..from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalba_Carriera