24 written by Christian Cole, who was in Venice from 1707 as secretary to the British ambassador LordManchester. The letter confirms that she had taken up pastel painting by no later than 1704.11 Carriera was deft at marketing both her miniatures and pastels to the constant stream of monied tourists that flowed into Venice. It is estimated that up to around 30,000 travellers stayed in the city every year to sample the unique topography, opera and concert performances, Carnival, courtesans, gambling, and a variety of other pleasurable activities for which Venice was renowned.12 For northern European travellers visiting Italy as part of their “Grand Tour,” a trip to Carriera’s studio became an obligatory stop-off as somewhere they could place orders in person, before taking the artworks back home in their luggage. The painter became so famous in Great Britain that even non-autograph pictures were marketed as works by “Roselby” (the version of her name that took hold among English buyers).13 However, her expansive network of connections to art lovers and collectors in northern Europe, to whom she supplied her works by post or courier, were another important component of her professional career. One particularly noteworthy example was the electoral-royal court in Dresden, which was home to a collection of Carriera’s pastels acquired during the reign of King Augustus the Strong and subsequently expanded by his successor, Augustus III. Carriera’s enormous success ultimately resulted in pastel paintings becoming known and indeed popular throughout Europe. As well as wanting to own a work by Carriera, there was also a growing clamour among European rulers to employ the famous painter at their own courts. For instance, in Düsseldorf it was JohannWilhelm, Elector Palatine, and his second wife, AnnaMaria Luisa de’ Medici, who in 1710 tried to woo Carriera to work for them. The elector already had a number of artists and musicians from Italy in his service, having deliberately set about fostering an Italianate cultural climate at his court. However, neither the efforts of his secretary and agent in Venice, Giorgio Maria Rapparini, nor the promise of a reassuringly familiar atmosphere among fellow Italians – and even the prospect of meeting the flower painter Rachel Ruysch – were enough to persuade the artist to accept the flattering invitation.14With so many customers already buying Carriera’s paintings, there was now simply no need for her to become dependent on one patron alone or tomove away fromher home city. Thus, for the entire first half of her life, she chose to stay on the banks of the Grand Canal and work from home. Carriera’s ambivalent attitude towards travel only changed after meeting her fellow painter Nicolas Vleughels, who stayed in Venice in 1707 and 1708. Similarly, her relationship to Pierre Crozat and, in later years, to the art critic Pierre-Jean Mariette were to play a significant role in her eventual decision to spend time away from Venice. While it is entirely possible that all three men invited the painter to Paris, it was the renowned banker, connoisseur, and collector Crozat who would ultimately get the credit for persuading Carriera to travel for the first time to further her career. Crozat had visited Venice in 1715 while acting as art advisor and official agent for Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Regent of France.15 Even after returning to France, Crozat continued to correspond with Carriera, seeking tirelessly to persuade the painter to agree to come and stay in Paris – and not just anywhere, of course, but as a guest at his hôtel (private mansion) on the Rue de Richelieu.16 It was only after several letters from Crozat listing all the opportunities and advantages that a residency on the banks of the Seine would have to offer that the painter – freshly admitted into the academic ranks of the Accademia Clementina in Bologna – finally acceded to leaving Venice in February 1720. Accompanied by her sister Giovanna and her mother, she would travel to Paris, with her friend Zanetti escorting the ladies to their destination.17 In the 18th century, Paris was Europe’s second largest city after London, ruled following Louis XIV’s death by his nephew Philippe II, who was to hold the reins of power until the Sun King’s great-grandson Louis XV came of age. With the royal court having moved back to Paris from Versailles, the period of Philippe II’s regency was already celebrated for having ushered in an era seen as liberty- loving, urbane, and sophisticated – albeit dogged by scandals and debauchery.18 As Crozat’s guests, the Carrieras enjoyed the privilege of being promptly introduced to the city’s very highest social circles. As well as the régent himself and his wife, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, they also met numerous other members of the court and representatives of the most senior ranks of aristocracy. Their acquaintances also included a glittering array of figures from Parisian artistic and cultural life, such as Pierre-Jean Mariette and the respected antiquarian and collector Anne-Claude-Philippe Tubières, comte de Caylus.19 Mariette, known in his day as a connoisseur, collector, art lover, and writer, was also working in this period on an encyclopaedia of artists, for which he was compiling reviews and notes on collections and biographies. It was not until 1851 that the fruits of Mariette’s labours, which includes an entry on Carriera, were finally published by Chennevières andMontaiglon in a five-volume work entitled the Abecedario.20 Among the artist’s early biographers was Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d’Argenville, royal secretary and avocat from 1743, who first met Carriera in Crozat’s mansion. With interests including art drawing and engraving, in 1745 he eventually published Abrégé de la vie des plus fameux peintres, in which Carriera was a subject of one of his potted biographies of the era’s “most famous painters.”21
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