The Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera was a success in Paris 1720–21 when, for instance, she was elected to membership of the Academy of Art. Her stay in the city is not only linked to the revival of pastel painting but also to the first flowering of Rococo. What characterised her pastels was their apparently spontaneous but well calculated rapid chalk strokes that were applied over carefully prepared sections that testify to her technical virtuosity. It is uncertain whether this is a portrait or a character study.