Rosalba Carriera - a virtuoso of pastel painting

(1675 Venice – 1757 same place) Portrait of Magdalena Sibylla von Neitschütz, Countess of Rochlitz. The virtuoso pastel artist Rosalba Carriera masterfully depicted the noble lady using a soft, sculptural color palette as a young, coquettish, seductive brunette in profile, with her gaze turned toward the viewer. She is dressed in a delicate light blue gown with a lace neckline, and her bright blue cloak is fastened with a diamond clasp. Carriera was one of the first female artists to achieve European fame during her lifetime. Her talent was discovered and nurtured from an early age, and she studied at the Academy of San Luca in Rome, and later with Antonio Balestra in Venice. From 1704, Carriera turned to the then relatively young genre of pastel painting and significantly contributed to establishing this technique as a respected form of art. In 1705, she was proclaimed a princess-member of the Academy of San Luca in Rome (a very prestigious distinction for a woman), and in 1721 she followed the Académie Royale in Paris. Numerous portraits of ruling European dynasties testify to the clients’ desire to work with this artist. She also portrayed famous people and renowned women. The largest collection of her works is still housed in the Dresden Gemäldegalerie, which features 73 pastels. Pastel on paper, 47 x 37 cm. Rococo frame. The life of Magdalena Sibylla (1675–1694) was short and tragic. She grew up in close proximity to the Saxon court, as the daughter of the later Lieutenant General Rudolf von Neitschütz and the sister of Oberhofmarschall Friedrich Adolf von Haugwitz. In 1687, Elector Johann Georg IV fell in love with her, and when he ascended the throne in 1691, she became his mistress, quickly gaining significant influence at court and acquiring estates. In 1693, at the initiative of the Elector and thanks to large bribes from Emperor Leopold I, she was elevated to the rank of Reichsgräfin of Rochlitz. However, in the autumn of 1693 she fell ill, and on April 4, 1694, at the young age of 19, she died, presumably of smallpox, and was buried in the crypt of the Church of Sophia. A few weeks later, Elector Johann Georg IV followed her, possibly from the same disease. His brother and successor, Frederick Augustus I the Strong, then initiated an extensive posthumous witch trial against the Neitschütz family and their supporters. The remains of Magdalena Sibylla were examined for signs of witchcraft, and then she was buried anonymously. The estates of Magdalena Sibylla and her mother were confiscated. Provenance: was in the possession of the Counts de Challe-Riocour family, Gaussig Castle (until 1945); after 1990 – restitution and auction of the castle’s inventory in Nagel, Stuttgart, January 31, 1998, lot 624.