Chiara Varotari (1584/1585-after 1663)

Paolo Veronese, unlike his colleague Jacopo Tintoretto, did not himself produce a painter daughter. Among Paolo’s pupils, however, we do find female artistic progeny. One of Paolo’s well-known pupils is Dario Varotari (1542-1596), whose daughter and pupil, Chiara Varotari (1584/1585-post 1663), had a long, successful career as a portraitist. She was praised by Carlo Ridolfi and two of her female pupils received praise from Marco Boschini. Her fame is based on elegant portraits, often of women with skillfully depicted luxurious costumes. This essay considers Chiara Varotari as a female painter in the republic of Venice in the context of Paolo’s technical legacy and of the considerable presence of women in the arti in the republic.