Self portrait as 'Innocence', holding a dove in her arms, grey dress with red lined grey stole, white flower and foliage in her swept back, fair, curling hair

The present miniature is a copy of one executed by Rosalba in 1705, which was the artist's diploma piece for admission to the Accademia di San Luca, Rome. There are several variants of this miniature and versions can be found in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich as well as one in the Royal Collection - see R. Walker, The Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century Miniatures in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, Cambridge, 1992, no. 126, illustrated p. 65 and C. Lloyd's and V. Remington's exhibition catalogue Masterpieces in Little. Portrait Miniatures from the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen, London, 1996, no. 50, illustrated p. 147. Rosalba Carriera is best known for having pioneered the technique of miniature painting on an ivory support, which evolved from the painting of small images inside the lids of ivory boxes. Whilst Carriera is thought never to have visited England, her style of painting was soon adopted by artists like Bernard Lens.