Portrait of a Young Girl 1708

Rosalba Carriera captured this ‘Portrait of a Young Girl’ in pastel, a medium lending itself to the soft innocence of youth. The girl’s upward gaze and slight smile are disarming, but it’s the tilt of her head that carries echoes of the past. We see this pose again and again through art history, notably in depictions of the melancholic ‘Melancholia’ by Dürer. But there, the gesture signals introspection and inner turmoil. Here, the tilt is softened, imbued with a gentle curiosity, a sense of burgeoning self-awareness. It’s fascinating how a simple shift in expression can transform a symbolic pose. The tilt of the head, an archetypal gesture of contemplation, is softened in the face of youth. What was once a symbol of deep thought is reborn here. It demonstrates the enduring power of these non-linear, cyclical gestures through time.