Giudecca 795

A visit to the Gallerie dell’Accademia and the nearby Ca’ Rezzonico Museum allows us to reconstruct Rosalba Carriera’s artistic development. At Ca’ Rezzonico there are two ivory miniatures, typical of her first production; a Madonna, a rare example of a religious subject and the only Venetian witness of the seasons series. Furthermore the very beautiful portraits exhibited in the Pastels Room and compared to the same type of works by contemporary artists. About ten splendid pastel portraits are also at the Gallerie dell’Accademia, where different styles are represented: children, diplomats, noblemen, Ecclesiastes, young and elderly women. And finally the most dramatic of all: Rosalba’s last self-portrait, old and on the brink of blindness. Thus ends the series of self-portraits, which, over time, document in an almost cruel manner the artist’s process of physical decadence.