Gustavus Hamilton (1710–1746), Second Viscount Boyne, in Masquerade Costume
| Support Type: | Paper |
| Paint Type: | Pastel |
| Current Location: | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA |
It is not simply a young aristocrat dressed up for the Venetian Carnival, Rosalba Carriera’s Gustavus Hamilton, Second Viscount Boyne, in Masquerade Costume (1730–31). Hamilton sports the traditional bautta, complete with black hat, white mask, veil and short cape, instantly giving him an air of mystery. His face still remains half hidden and frankly that is what pulls us in. We want to know who is in there. but it makes sense for a masquerade though, the whole point was to let people step outside their everyday identities and be somebody else for a while. Hamilton was an Irish aristocrat who was visiting Venice in the season of the Carnival, and Carriera captures that experience with a real touch of playfulness and theatre." Her soft pastel colours and the delicate handling of the fabric render an elegant, almost dream-like quality to the figure, while the dark hat and mask are set in strong contrast to his face. The to-and-fro between showing and hiding is what makes the painting so interesting. We know who the sitter is perfectly well, but he is still disguised so we don’t see him in full. In a sense, the portrait embodies the real allure of the masquerade, the joy of being observed and yet concealed. Rather than merely capturing a fashionable costume, Carriera turns it into something more beguiling, a small meditation on identity, performance and the thrill of stepping outside of ordinary life for a moment.