Portrait of young woman

This is the kind of face that made Rosalba Carriera's name, a young Venetian woman, unnamed, turned out fresh and lightly powdered. Portraits like this were half likeness and half the ideal of youth her buyers wanted, and Grand Tourists carried them home from Venice as prized souvenirs. The real interest is in how she built it. She dragged the flat side of white chalk across a darker underdrawing to catch the shimmer of lace and satin, so the light seems to sit on the surface. That dry, powdery finish was quicker than oil and part of why sitters across Europe queued for her. No date or sitter's name has stayed with it, as often happened with these charming heads made to sell rather than to a single patron's order.