Portrait of a lady at three-quarter length

Rosalba began her artistic career by making lace patterns for her mother, who was active in that trade, but as the market for lace declined, she began painting miniatures for snuff boxes instead. She later gradually moved towards making larger paintings and pastels, specializing in portraits which became highly sought-after by the Venetian elite and by Grand Tourists. In 1721 Rosalba left Venice for Paris where her portraits were in great demand. To satisfy her clientèle Rosalba often re-used compositions for different sitters. The present pastel, executed with Rosalba’s characteristic soft touch with sharp highlights in the lace, appears to be such an example as it closely relates to a portrait of Enrichetta d’Este in the Uffizi (inv. 1890; see N. Jeffares, Dictionary of pastellists before 1800, online edition [accessed May 2019], no. J.21.0488).

We are grateful to Neil Jeffares for his assistance in cataloguing this pastel and for confirming the attribution to Rosalba after examination of the original.