Through the specially created Committee for the Celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the death of the Rosalba Carriera (1757-2007), the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the Veneto Region wish to commemorate this major 18th-century Venetian painter throughout 2007. Born in Venice in 1673, Rosalba Carriera also died in the city in 1757.
Undoubtedly a leading European 18th-century artist, Rosalba Carriera is surely the greatest female painter of all time. Her portraits of leading figures from Venetian and European society were extraordinarily acute. She also made a great contribution to French portrait painting and was an unrivalled interpreter of the ideals of grace and elegance in an age when the “happy life” entered the collective imagination and was identified with the ancien régime.
Organised by the Institute of Art History, the conference has been held ahead of the exhibition dedicated to the great painter planned for autumn 2007. The aim is to update studies on Rosalba Carriera, and to tackle themes such as the position of a female painter in 18th-century Europe. The conference is opened by the writer Kuki Gallmann who speak on the topic of “A woman who painted other women”.