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#148: By Xavier F. Salomon, Chief Curator Transcript

Little is known about these two portraits, which came to the Frick recently as part of the bequest of the New York collector Alexis Gregory. It is unclear if they were conceived as a pair, depicting husband and wife. Despite the fragility of the medium—pastel—they are in pristine condition.

The portrayal of the man as a pilgrim, with a black cape and holding a staff, may indicate that he was a member of the Pellegrini family—Pellegrini being the Italian word for pilgrims—or that he is someone who traveled on a pilgrimage. More likely, however, his attire is simply a costume related to the Venetian carnival.

These two pastels belong to a small number of works of art at the Frick by a female artist. Rosalba Carriera spent most of her life in Venice, then a popular destination for young aristocrats from all over Europe undertaking the Grand Tour—a tour of Europe that served as an educational rite of passage into adulthood. Many of these travelers would go to Carriera’s studio to have a portrait painted—one that could be easily transported across Europe.

That is how Carriera, who began her career as a miniaturist painter in Venice, became one of the most internationally acclaimed pastel painters of the eighteenth century, her portraits sought after by kings, queens, and emperors. Carriera’s pastels are technically innovative, remarkable for their soft edges and flat surfaces. By binding colored chalk into sticks, she obtained a much wider range of prepared colors, which ultimately expanded the visual possibilities of this medium.

Portrait of a Woman

 (Italian, 1673–1757)
Dateca. 1730
MediumPastel on paper, laid down on canvas
Dimensions23 1/4 × 18 7/8 in. (59.1 × 47.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Alexis Gregory, 2020
Accession number2020.3.02
Commentary

The preeminent artist producing pastel portraits in eighteenth-century Venice, Rosalba Carriera became so celebrated that she was known across the western world simply as "Rosalba"a remarkable development for a woman at that time. Patrons from throughout Europeprimarily Great Britain, France, and Germanyflocked to her house and studio on the Grand Canal to be portrayed by her. The unidentified sitter in this portrait is richly dressed and wearing lavish jewelry. Rosalba followed a series of prototypes when representing her sitters, and this pastel is a characteristic work by her.

Collection History
European private collection; Bob Haboldt collection; acquired by Sotheby's, 1998; purchased by Alexis Gregory, 1998; Gift to The Frick Collection, 2020
Not On View
Exhibitions
Oil study of dark grey cumulus clouds viewed from below against a blue sky.
John Constable
ca. 1822
Oil study of dark grey cumulus clouds with lighter stratus clouds behind them viewed from below…
John Constable
ca. 1822
Chalk and pencil drawing of a woman in mid-nineteenth century dress with her head resting on he…
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
1843−44
Gouache and pastel drawing of a woman seated in forest wearing in a white eighteenth-century dr…
Daniel Gardner
1770–1805
Light blue and black pastel drawing on brown paper of an evening scene of boats moored against …
James McNeill Whistler
1880
Pastel drawing on brown paper of boats on still, blue water with white domed buildings and brig…
James McNeill Whistler
1879
Pastel and black chalk drawing on brown paper of three boats in a narrow cana. There are houses…
James McNeill Whistler
1880
Pastel portrait of the head of a brown-haired woman wearing a white eighteenth-century style dr…
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
ca. 1790
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