The fame of Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), in fact the most famous Italian artist in eighteenth-century Europe, knew no bounds. Everyone from English lords to imperial princes agreed on his excellence in portraiture. He was perhaps the only artist to find unanimous approval both among the sophisticated connoisseurs of the international beau monde and among the traditionalist and conservative Venetian aristocracy. For nearly half a century the courts of Europe tried to secure his services, and yet, despite frequent invitations and generous offers, except for three stays at the court of the King of France, the Duke of Modena and that of the Emperor in Vienna, he preferred remain in Venice, where he worked tirelessly throughout his life.

She is responsible for the most acute portrait of the characters of Venetian and European society of the eighteenth century, and her contribution to French portraiture is fundamental: she interpreted in an incomparable way the ideals of grace and elegance of an entire era, that "happy life" now entered the collective imagination and with which we identify the ancien régime.

Rosalba Carriera, in addition to dedicating herself to pastel portraits, was an extraordinary painter of miniatures on ivory, or rather the one who inaugurated this genre, elevating it from a craft practice to a real art. Through an innovative technique Rosalba manages to bring, for the first time, to the tiny surface of ivory backgrounds, the loose and vibrant brushstroke of paint on canvas. Success was immediate. There was no traveler who during his stay in Venice did not aspire to have a miniature portrait of Rosalba done; however, today it is not so frequent to come across these small images, indeed, their number is much smaller than pastels.

On this occasion, a retrospective is dedicated to Rosalba Carriera as a miniaturist, presenting 36 works to the public, together with pastels, documents, drawings, prints, from the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, other institutions and private collections. It is an extremely rare opportunity to admire these works of extraordinary fragrance and delicacy, by now classics of Rococo art, in the year in which the three hundred and fifty years since the artist's birth occur.