Much of Carriera’s success can be attributed to the astute strategies she employed to fashion her own image and reputation. The miniature shown here, titled L’Innocenza (‘Innocence’), is another self-portrait and a copy of her diploma piece for the Accademia San Luca in Rome, which would have been assessed by male academicians. The thirty-two-year-old artist appears to be presenting herself here as modest and – significantly – unthreatening. Though she primarily worked in pastels, a medium viewed as academically less important than oils, at her death Carriera had cultivated an international clientèle and European fame as a portraitist, and left an estate that significantly outweighed those of her male Venetian peers.