A Woman Putting Flowers in Her Hair
Medium
watercolor on ivory in a tortoiseshell pique-point frame
Dimensions
unframed: 8.6 × 10.5 cm · framed: 10.6 × 12.7 cm
Classification
Portrait Miniature
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Edward B. Greene Collection
Accession Number
1940.1203
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
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 ...