L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LAURA STORTONI-HAGER O n e c a n n o t s a y t h a t Rosalba Carriera was the best woman painter in Europe, since in the opinion of m o s t a r t c r i t i c s t h a t m e r i t b e l o n g s t o A r t e m i s i a Gentileschi. But one can affirm without a doubt that Rosalba Carriera had the most successful career of any woman artist who ever lived in Europe. At the U f f i z i G a l l e r y i n F l o r e n c e , among the works of art collected by Duke Cosimo III de' Medici, I find Rosalba Carriera's self- portrait. In the painting, Rosalba is staring right at me, showing with her left hand an unfinished portrait of her sister. Rosalba appears serene in her maturity, her hair is powdered, according to the fashion of the times, and her expression is modest, yet c o n f i d e n t . T h i s i m a g e i s a n advertisement for her art, as well as a reflection of her closeness to her family. T h e V e n e t o r e g i o n h a s always been an especially fertile g r o u n d f o r w o m e n a r t i s t s , w h e t h e r w r i t e r s o r p a i n t e r s . Rosalba was born in Venice on October 7, 1675, and after pere- grinations throughout Europe, she died in Venice on April 15, 1757. She had a long and busy life, and was regarded not only as a great painter, but also as a w o m a n o f g e n i u s . A t a v e r y early age she had to work for a living, and became well known as a painter of miniatures; later she moved on to larger paint- ings, for the most part portraits. Noblemen and international celebrities, who had travelled to Italy for the Grand Tour "de rigueur" in those days, frequent- ed Carriera's fashionable studio on the Grand Canal. Venice was at that time a major center of import-export trade, so Rosalba had the opportunity to make her- s e l f k n o w n a l l o v e r E u r o p e . Rosalba is remarkable for being the first woman painter to be admitted to art academies, a major feat since in those days academies did not admit mem- bers of the female sex: in 1705 s h e w a s a d m i t t e d t o t h e A c c a d e m i a d i S a n L u c a i n R o m e , a n d l a t e r a l s o t o t h e Academy of Arts in Paris. In 1716 Rosalba made friends with Pierre Croizat, the famous French critic and art connois- s e u r , a n d a f e w y e a r s l a t e r accepted his invitation to go to Paris. Modest and unmarried as she was, Rosalba was also dar- ing and adventurous. But she left for France with her mother, sis- ters, and a brother-in-law in tow. She liked the security of her family. She was well received in Paris, and immediately met the major French painters of her t i m e , i n c l u d i n g t h e f a m o u s Watteau. In fact, Rosalba paint- ed what is regarded as the best portrait of Watteau: we have it n o w a t t h e M u s e o C i v i c o o f Treviso. Rosalba, Watteau and their immediate circle were in great part responsible for the development of the style that became known as "rococo." A style famous for delightful rep- resentations of humans and of nature that shunned all that was ugly or unpleasant. Rosalba was very hard work- ing, and was immediately inun- dated with commissions from all over Europe, especially requests o f p o r t r a i t s , f o r w h i c h s h e became famous. Dukes, counts, c e l e b r i t i e s a n d n o b l e m e n o f many European countries count- ed it an honor to be painted by her. She also influenced famous p a i n t e r s s u c h a s t h e F r e n c h Quentin de la Tour and later the Venetian Marianna Carlevaris. In an age when painters used oil paint, Rosalba chose to paint using pastel, an ephemeral medi- um compared to oil. Even now we use the term "pastel" to indi- cate delicate, pleasing, luminous colors. The Italian word "pastel- lo" means made of paste, since in order to form the stick used by the painter the pigments had to be pounded in a mortar, soft- ened and thus made easy to use. Rosalba used pastel on dark blue paper, a most personal technique that gave her work definition as well as luminescence, as the col- ors overcame the darker paper they were laid on. Her work is always pleasing, and reflects the taste and the exquisite elegance of her times. But she was also famous for her uncanny capacity to grasp and portray the person- ality of her subjects: her paint- ings are definitely psychological studies in their own right. One d o e s n o t f i n d a n y t h i n g t o o harsh, or too dark in Rosalba's paintings. And yet, she lived during the time when the violent forces that ultimately led to the F r e n c h R e v o l u t i o n w e r e seething. She died before she could see their dire effects. In 1721 Rosalba returned to Italy to execute some paintings at the court of Modena; then in 1 7 3 0 s h e m o v e d t o t h e Hapsburg court in Vienna. She reaped honor after honor, wealth and recognition. Yet, her old age was marred by the cruelest fate that could befall a painter: the loss of her eyesight. She spent the last days of her life blind. It has been reported that without sight and light, without being able to paint, she went mad. Owing to her international travels and her invitations to the most famous courts of Europe, Rosalba's work is scattered all over Europe. Many of her paint- ings can be found in her native V e n i c e , a t t h e G a l l e r i a d e l l ' A c c a d e m i a a n d a t C a ' Rezzonico, others are at the U f f i z i i n F l o r e n c e , m a n y o f them are in Dresden, Germany, in Russian museums, and at the Louvre in Paris. One of her por- traits is at Buckingham Palace. Many more paintings are hidden in private collections. Her por- traits are of children, men and women; but the most famous ones are of women, aristocratic, rich women who paid fortunes to be immortalized by her brush. Many women chose to be repre- sented as mythological figures or as representations of the sea- s o n s . I n s o m e o f t h e s e l a t e r paintings, Rosalba portrays the sitter in risqué, titillating poses, often showing her breasts. Take a look for instance, at the paint- ing of Flora (1730), a part of the "Allegory of the Seasons." We know Rosalba was never mar- ried, and that she lived always surrounded by her family. She was, one could say, the Jane Rosalba Carriera Self-Portrait as "Winter", circa 1730 Austen of painting. Many have wondered whether she was ever touched by the intensity of love, by the lure of sexual attraction. Or did she truly stay away from any fierce emotion that might u p s e t h e r a r t o r h e r l i f e ? L o o k i n g a t t h e s o m e o f h e r overtly sexual paintings, one wonders. We are fortunate to have sev- eral paintings by Rosalba in the United States, so that we can go and admire them in person. One is the famous personification of " A m e r i c a " a t t h e N a t i o n a l Museum of Women in the Arts in Boston, representing a beauti- f u l n a t i v e A m e r i c a n w o m a n armed with bow and arrow; also in Boston, at the Museum of Fine Arts, we find a portrait of t h e h a n d s o m e F r e n c h K i n g Louis XV, as well as a "Portrait of a Woman with Jewels." In Washington D.C, at the National Gallery of Art, we have an allur- ing "Allegory of Painting." In Cleveland we find a fascinating "Head of a Woman." We are fortunate to have two Carriera paintings in California: a " Head of Diana," at the Museum of the L e g i o n o f H o n o r i n S a n F r a n c i s c o , w h i l e i n L o s A n g e l e s , a t t h e J . P . G e t t y M u s e u m , w e f i n d t h e m o s t enticing "Muse Crowned with a Laurel Wreath." Rosalba Carriera reflected the ideal of grace, elegance and beauty of the last decades of the eighteenth century, the age of Enlightenment. But her world was already doomed: just a few years after her death, with the F r e n c h R e v o l u t i o n a n d t h e advent of Napoleon, that world was shattered for ever. But it will always live in her paintings. Recenty, an interesting novel w a s p u b l i s h e d b y V a l e n t i n a Cesarotto: "Il segreto nello sguardo. Memorie di Rosalba C a r r i e r a p r i m a p i t t r i c e d'Europa." (The secret in the Glance, Memoires of Rosalba C a r r i e r a f o r e m o s t w o m a n painter of Europe). The author writes in the per- sona of Rosalba Carriera, begin- ning the narrative in Venice in A p r i l 1 7 4 1 . O l d a n d a l m o s t blind, no longer able to paint, Rosalba decides to write her story. The narration is crowded with the most important and famous people of her times. Though not a biography but a work of imagination, this book provides an insight in the forma- tion and the soul of this most exceptional woman. Rosalba Car r iera: The Most Successful Woman Painter in Europe LIFE PEOPLE MOVIES MUSIC BOOKS

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