The Exotic as Consumer Item

This painting by the Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera (1675–1757) is titled Africa. The young black girl wearing a turban represents the African continent. Carriera was known for her use of pastels. In 1720, she journeyed to Paris, where she became an associate of Antoine Watteau and helped inaugurate the rococo style in painting. Why might the artist have chosen to paint an African girl? (bpk, Berlin / Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Staaliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany / Photo: Elke Estel / Hans-Peter Klut / Art Resource, NY.)