The Singer Faustina Bordoni with a Musical Score 1724

Rosalba Carriera created this pastel portrait of the singer Faustina Bordoni. The composition is immediately striking for its soft, almost dreamlike quality, achieved through delicate layers of pastel. The pale skin tones and flowing lines of the sitter’s figure create a sense of movement and dynamism. Carriera's technique here departs significantly from the rigid formality of traditional portraiture. Rather than a static depiction, the portrait captures Bordoni in a moment of artistic contemplation, sheet music in hand. This emphasis on the interiority of the subject is a hallmark of Carriera's work. The careful attention to texture, from the floral arrangement to the singer's curly hair, underscores the artist's interest in the material qualities of her medium. Ultimately, it's the way Carriera uses pastel to convey a sense of fleeting beauty that resonates most profoundly. The portrait challenges conventional notions of beauty by presenting the singer not as an object of passive admiration but as an active, thinking subject. This shifts the power dynamic between artist, sitter, and viewer.