Luisa Casati

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Giovanni Boldini : Portrait of the Marchesa Luisa Casati with her Greyhound (1908)
Léon Bakst : Persian Dance (1912)
Adolphe de Meyer : Photography by Marchesa Luisa Casati (1912)

Luisa Casati Stampa di Soncino, Marchesa di Roma (born January 23, 1881 in Milan , † June 1, 1957 in London ) was an Italian heiress, muse , art patron , fashion icon and high society lady at the beginning of the 20th century in Europe .

Life

Luisa Adele Rosa Maria Amman was the youngest daughter of the wealthy textile manufacturer Alberto Amman († 1896) and his wife Lucia Bressi († 1894). Her childhood revolved around perfect behavior and social representation. She was taught exclusively at home by governesses and tutors using books from her father's library . Luisa also learned French , German and English ; she was considered precocious and extremely intelligent. The early death of their parents made Luisa and her sister Francesca (1880-1919), later wife of Giulio Padulli , orphans and the wealthiest heiresses in Italy.

In 1900 Luisa Amman married the aristocrat Camillo Casati Stampa di Soncino, Marchese di Roma (1877-1946) in Milan. The connection resulted in the daughter Christina (1901–1953), who was married to Francis Hastings (1901–1990 ) from 1925 to 1943 and was married to Wogan Philipps for the second time .

In 1903 Casati met the writer Gabriele D'Annunzio and had a long affair with him. During this time she traveled a lot and quickly made contact with European high society. Its banquets , dance balls , garden parties, dinners , fox hunts, dance evenings and costume parties of the European high and money aristocracy were famous and filled the social columns of the newspapers. The more extravagant and scandalous her life and love stories, the greater the fascination that emanated from her. In 1910 she bought the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal in Venice and had it extensively renovated. The festivals held by Casati there were extraordinary and imaginative - the inauguration of their palazzo was celebrated in September 1913 with a costume ball in the style of the 18th century.

Immortalized in portraits , sculptures and photographs by numerous artists, Luisa Casati became famous as the most painted woman in Italy . She was personally friends with many artists, including Giovanni Boldini , Augustus John , Kees van Dongen , Romaine Brooks , Ignacio Zuloaga , Étienne Drian , Alberto Martini , Hans-Henning von Voigt , Giacomo Balla , Paolo Troubetzkoy , Jacob Epstein , Man Ray , Cecil Beaton and Adolphe de Meyer . Her robes and costumes were designed by Léon Bakst , Paul Poiret , Mariano Fortuny and Erté . Wherever she was, she set trends .

Already at the beginning of the century swarmed as the richest heiress in Italy, Casati had to flee impoverished to London in the 1930s, where she lived, supported by friends, until her death in 1957. She was buried in Brompton Cemetery .

reception

  • Picture by Adrani Bisi Fabbri (1922)

  • Costume by Jean Philippe Worth, photographer unknown (1922)

  • Drawing by Leon Bakst (1912)

  • Picture by Boldoni (no year)

  • Gravestone in Brompton Cemetery

literature

Web links

Commons : Luisa Casati  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Thomas Steinfeld : Lös dich auf , Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 11, 2014, p. HBG 11
  2. ↑ Nationale Opera : Performance information on the Ritratto opera , accessed on August 29, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Casati, Luisa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Luisa Casati Stampa di Soncino, Marchesa di Roma; Luisa Adele Rosa Maria Amman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian heiress, muse, patron, fashion icon and high society lady
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1957
Place of death London