The beginning of the eighteenth century represents not only the first high point in Carriera's professional life as an independent artist, with her recognition by the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, but also the period in her life in which she concentrated more and more on a new technique: it was the discovery of the fascination and singularity of pastel painting that proved to be the next milestone in her career. It turned out to be the medium she would show a clear preference for, and she was destined to become the foremost ambassador of this technique. No other artist, let alone female artist, had ever before achieved similar success.

A Short History of Pastel Painting

The English word pastel probably derives from the Italian pastello, a diminutive of the Latin word pasta or paste, and it refers to a form of dry painting. It involves applying pigments to a working surface, usually grainy blue-grey paper, which was originally associated with Venice where it was called ‘Turkish paper’ (carta turchina.) Parchment, card or canvas were other forms of support. The artists used either the pure pigments or, as is normally the case, pastel crayons or sticks. These are fabricated from coloured pigments and a white mineral or pigment, the so-called filler or base to add physical substance. Generally, white chalk of various types was added, or gypsum, starch, plaster of Paris or tobacco-pipe clay and a binder, usually gum Arabic. Shelley describes the process of making crayons as follows:

The paper was dampened and glued to a fine canvas before the pigments were applied to the rough surface, a characteristic of the paper necessary in order for the pigments to adhere. The artists, including Carriera, often used this blue Turkish paper, which was commonly available in smaller dimensions, 37.5 by 46.5 or 41.9 by 52 centimetres.