Rosalba Carriera
, Venetian, 1673-1757
Title
WinterDate1742/1743
MediumPastel on blue paper
Dimensions
34.2 x 27.7 cm
Credit LineMilltown Gift, 1902
Object numberNGI.3849
DescriptionNotable for their radiant colours and lustrous velvety tones, Rosalba Carriera’s pastel portraits were explicitly intended to be hung in close proximity to and in competition with conventional oil portraits. Reflecting the refined taste of her times, Carriera’s work was in vogue among wealthy Grand Tourists visiting Venice from Germany, France and England. Her work also became increasingly popular with the nobility across Europe. In her pastels she skilfully portrayed the social status of her sitters, accurately describing their elegant jewels and costume Carriera created imaginative allegorical personifications of Diana, Flora, the elements and the seasons. Here, Winter, dressed in rich velvet and furs, warms her hands by a small fire. Carriera often chose blue paper as a support, not only because it was the thickest paper available in the eighteenth century, but also because of the chromatic vibrancy it offered as a background for pastel pigments. Joseph Leeson, later first Lord Milltown, probably purchased this work along with five other female pastel portraits by the artist during his first Grand Tour (1744–45). The pastels hung in his home, Russborough House, County Wicklow, and later formed part of the Milltown Gift given to the Gallery by Geraldine, Countess of Milltown in memory of her husband.
March 2016