A Lady Seen in Full Face

This frontal view of a Venetian lady, drawn around 1700-1710, is unusual among Carlevarijs's figure studies, which more typically adopt three-quarter or profile views conducive to capturing movement and social interaction. The full-face portrait pose suggests either a specific commission or a particular interest in capturing the direct gaze and facial expression of a Venetian woman of quality. Carlevarijs's female figure studies, more limited in number than his male studies, reflect the social realities of observing women in early eighteenth-century Venice — they moved in more restricted public spaces and at specific social occasions like church visits and promenades where male artists could observe them.

The frontal pose allows more detailed treatment of the face than the typical rear or profile studies. The costume is rendered with careful attention to symmetry and decorative details, creating a more portrait-like quality than most of the figure studies.