Countess castiglione biography for kids
Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione
Italian aristocrat, photographer (–)
Virginia Oldoini Rapallini, Countess of Castiglione (23 March – 28 November ), better known as La Castiglione, was an Italian aristocrat who achieved notoriety as a mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France. She was also a significant figure in the early history of photography.
Early life
Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoini Rapallini (French: Virginie Élisabeth Louise Charlotte Antoinette Thérèse Marie Oldoini) was born on 22 March in Florence, Tuscany to Marquis Filippo Oldoini Rapallini and Isabella Lamporecchi, members of the minor Tuscan nobility; she was often known by her nickname of "Nicchia".
Ignored by her father, she was educated by her grandfather Ranieri Lamporecchi.[2] She married Francesco Verasis, Count of Castiglione, at the age of He was twelve years her senior. They had a son, Giorgio.
Her cousin, Camillo, Count of Cavour, was the prime minister of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia (that included also Piedmont, Val d'Aosta, Liguria and Savoy), and later of reunited Italy. When the Count and Countess traveled to Paris in , the Countess was under her cousin's instructions to plead the cause of Italian unity with Napoleon III of France.
She achieved notoriety by becoming Napoleon III's mistress, a scandal that led her husband to demand marital separation. In , she had a brief affair with King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, who nicknamed her "Nini".[2]
In –, she entered the social circle of European royalty. During her relationship with the French emperor, she met Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, Otto von Bismarck and Adolphe Thiers.
She had many lovers, including a banker of the Rothschild family and the then director of the Louvre Museum.[2]
The Countess was known for her beauty and her flamboyant entrances in elaborate dress at the imperial court. One of her most infamous outfits was a "Queen of Hearts" costume.[3]George Frederic Watts painted her portrait in [4] She was described as having long, wavy blonde hair, a fair complexion, a delicate oval face, and eyes that constantly changed colour from green to an extraordinary blue-violet.
Italian unification
The Countess returned to Italy in when her affair with Napoleon III was over. Four years later, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, conceivably in part due to the influence that the Countess had exerted on Napoleon III. That same year, she returned to France and settled in Passy.
Countess castiglione biography for kids ages La Stampa in Italian. Read Edit View history. Newer Post Older Post Home. Keywords 19th Century A.In , just after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, she was called to a secret meeting with Otto von Bismarck to explain to him how the German occupation of Paris could be fatal to his interests. She may have been persuasive because Paris was spared Prussian occupation.[5]
Photographic artist
Circa
Circa –
Photographs by Pierson
In she began sitting for Mayer and Pierson, photographers favored by the imperial court.
Over the next four decades she directed Pierre-Louis Pierson to help her create different photographs in which she re-created the signature moments of her life for the camera. She spent a large part of her personal fortune and even went into debt to execute this project.
Countess castiglione biography for kids Paris , French Third Republic. Later years [ edit ]. Back To Top. Robert de Montesquiou , a Symbolist poet, dandy , and avid art collector, was fascinated by the Countess di Castiglione.Most of the photographs depict the Countess in theatrical outfits, such as the Queen of Hearts dress. A number of photographs depict her in poses that were risqué for the era – notably, images that expose her bare legs and feet. In these photos, her head is cropped out.
Robert de Montesquiou, a Symbolist poet, dandy, and avid art collector, was fascinated by the Countess di Castiglione.
He spent thirteen years writing a biography, La Divine Comtesse, which appeared in After her death, he collected of her photographs, all of which entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[6]
Later years
Virginia spent her declining years in an apartment in the Place Vendôme, where she had the rooms decorated in funeral black, the blinds kept drawn, and mirrors banished—apparently so she would not have to confront her advancing age and loss of beauty.
She would leave the apartment only at night.
Countess castiglione biography for kids pictures Contact Us Disclaimer Privacy Policy. On an early trip to Paris, she and her husband met with Camillo, Count of Cavour. Her life has also been the subject of numerous subsequent biographies and a film, La Castiglione , starring Yvonne De Carlo. Gabriele D'Annunzio authored an appreciation of the Countess that appeared as a preface to Montesquiou's work.In the s she began a brief collaboration with Pierson again, though her later photographs clearly show her loss of any critical judgement, possibly due to her growing mental instability. She wished to set up an exhibit of her photographs at the Exposition Universelle (), though this did not happen. She died on 28 November , at the age of sixty-two, and was buried at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Legacy
Gabriele D'Annunzio authored an appreciation of the Countess that appeared as a preface to Montesquiou's work. It was also published on its own in [7]
The Countess's life was depicted in a Italian film, The Countess of Castiglione, and a Italian-French film, The Contessa's Secret, that starred Yvonne De Carlo.
Countess castiglione biography for kids video: Retrieved She also produced many photographs of herself depicting famous women from the Bible, history, and mythology. While Pierson operated the camera, the pose, dress, setting and angle were all conceived by the countess. They had a son, Giorgio.
The Countess was painted by the artist Jacques-Émile Blanche after her death.
The Countess is also depicted in Alexander Chee's novel The Queen of the Night.
She inspired the novel Exposition by Nathalie Léger.[8]
References
- ^Michele Falzone del Barbarò, La divine comtesse: photographs of the Countess de Castiglione ()
- ^ abcMaurizio Lupo; Sara Anlero (June 30, ).
"Il taccuino proibito della contessa". La Stampa (in Italian). Turin.
Biography for kids amelia earhart Steichen — : The Photo-Secession Years. These photographs were taken by photographer Billy Monk in Cape Town nightclubs in Wikimedia Commons has media related to Countess Virginia di Castiglione. Her last years were eccentric, but as in most of her endeavors, her youthful beauty drove her decisions.Archived from the original on January 30, Retrieved September 3,
- ^Metropolitan Museum: ""Queen of Hearts"". Archived from the original on June 28, Retrieved : CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), accessed May 28,
- ^Artnet: "Portrait of the Countess", accessed May 28,
- ^(in French)Historia, no.
(August ), accessed May 28,
- ^Munhall, Edgar, Whistler and Montesquiou: The Butterfly and the Bat (NY, ), 42
- ^"La contessa di Castiglione in una prosa di D'Annunzio" (Rome, ), Mario Vecchioni, ed.; Tommaso Antongini, D'Annunzio (, ),
- ^"Nathalie Léger: Exposition review – mysteries, rumours and facts".
The Arts Desk.
Sources
- Hamish Bowles, "Vain Glory" in Vogue (Aug ), –,
- Alain Decaux, La Castiglione, d’après sa correspondence et son journal inédits (Librairie académique Perrin, )
- Claude Dufresne La comtesse de Castiglione (Broché, )
- Massimo Grillandi, La contessa di Castiglione (Milan: Rusconi, )
- Max Henry, "Gotham Dispatch", review of an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art September 19, – December 31, , accessed 30 March
- Heather McPherson, "La Divine Comtesse: (Re)presenting the Anatomy of a Countess," in The Modern Portrait in Nineteenth Century France (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, ),
- (in French)Isaure de Saint-Pierre, La Dame de Coeur, un amour de Napoléon III] (Albin Michel, ), ISBN&#;
- Abigail Solomon-Godeau, "The Legs of the Countess," in October 39 (Winter ): Reprinted in Emily Apter and William Pletz, eds., Fetishism as Cultural Discourse (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, ),
- Roger L.
Williams, Gaslight and Shadow: The World of Napoleon III (NY: Macmillan, ), Ch. 6: "The Countess of Castiglione"
- : "Indepth Art News", notice of an exhibit at the Musée d'Orsay October 12, – January 23, , accessed 30 March
- "La Divine Comtesse": Photographs of the Countess de Castiglione, catalog for a exhibition of the Countess de Castiglione photos at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN&#;