A Woman Putting Flowers in Her Hair

A Woman Putting Flowers in Her Hair by Rosalba Carriera: Scholars generally agree that Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757) developed the art of painting miniatures on…

What to notice

In A Woman Putting Flowers in Her Hair by Rosalba Carriera, start with classical, portrait, figurative. Then look closely at this museum-described detail: Although she became famous as a pastel painter, in her early career, Carriera decorated ivory snuff boxes-containers used to hold powdered tobacco taken by sniffing up the…

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Scholars generally agree that Rosalba Carriera (1675-1757) developed the art of painting miniatures on ivory, in place of the traditional support of vellum, a fine animal skin. Although she became famous as a pastel painter, in her early career, Carriera decorated ivory snuff boxes-containers used to hold powdered tobacco taken by sniffing up the nostrils-for tourists. This miniature likely served as a lid to a snuff box, due to its elliptical shape in contrast to the oval or occasionally round shapes of most…