Portrait of a Man
ca. 1710
Medium
Ivory
Dimensions
Oval, 3 x 2 1/4 in. (76 x 59 mm)
Classification
Miniatures
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.122.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Rosalba Carriera's *Portrait of a Man* (ca. 1710) captures the elegance of early 18th Venetian portraiture in a remarkably intimate scale. Carriera, a pioneering female artist from Venice (1673–1757), rose to fame for her delicate miniatures and pastels during the Rococo era's dawn. This oval ivory portrait, measuring just 3 x 2¼ inches, exemplifies her skill in rendering lifelike faces with subtle expression and refined attire, likely depicting a gentleman of the aristocracy or merchant class amid Venice's thriving cultural scene. Painted on ivory—a prized medium for miniatures—Carriera empl...