Alessandro Milesi

(Italian, 1856-1945)

Portrait of Virginia Oldoini, Contessa di Castiglione

Footnotes

Provenance
G. Scarpa, Italy
Private collection, Italy

Exhibited
Venice, Sala Napoleonica, Alessandro Milesi, 18 April - 18 May 1959 (lent by G. Scarpa)

Literature
G. Perocco, Alessandro Milesi, Venice, 1959, illustrated p.33

Venetian-born Alessandro Milesi was a pupil of Napoleone Nani (1841-1899) at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. Influenced by the work of Giacomo Favretto (1849-1887), Milesi also drew inspiration from the more modern styles of Ettore Tito (1859-1941) and Cesare Laurenti (1854-1936), particularly in his treatment of light and use of colour. He cemented his reputation after exhibiting in Milan and Venice in the 1880s, later exhibiting at the Milan Triennale museum, and at all the Venice Biennales from 1895-1935, including a solo show in 1912. Milesi was known for his depictions of everyday Venetian life, as well as portraits of the Venetian middle classes, famous actors and musicians.


Virginia Oldoini, Contessa di Castiglione (1837-1899)

Born into a noble Tuscan family, Virginia Oldoini married Francesco Verasis, Conte di Castiglione, at the age of 17, with whom she had a son, Giorgio. Known as La Contessa, she was famous for her great beauty, extravagant lifestyle and flamboyant dress. Princess Mettrich, wife of the Austrian ambassador to France, described La Contessa as having 'wonderful hair, the waist of a nymph, and the complexion the colour of pink marble! In a word, Venus descended from Olympus.'¹ However, it was her affair with Emperor Napoleon III that catapulted her to notoriety in 1856, when she moved to Paris. Whilst his mistress, La Contessa became well acquainted with members of European royalty, including Augusta of Saxe-Weimar and Otto von Bismarck. During this time, it is widely thought that her influence over Napoleon III helped in part towards the subsequent unification of Italy in 1861. This was not the only example of her quiet involvement in European politics: she is thought to have been instrumental in persuading Otto von Bismark to spare Paris from Prussian occupation after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. Separated from her husband, her liaisons with aristocrats and politicians were infamous in Parisian society.

Obsessed with her own beauty, La Contessa became interested in the art of photography, commissioning, directing and posing for over 400 photographs between 1856-1895, taken by Pierre-Louis Pierson, one of the most sought after portrait photographers of the day. She instructed and directed Pierson for each photograph, which were designed to re-create the defining moments of her life. This oeuvre showcases her in her many elaborate, theatrical outfits, often assuming roles from plays, operas or literature. Her sometimes risqué poses were quite avant-garde for the time, such as a photograph of her bare legs. She is widely regarded as an important figure in the history of early photography, and a forerunner in the development of fashion photography.

Later in life, she became somewhat of a recluse, only venturing outside at night. She had the walls of her apartment in the Palace Vendome painted black and all mirrors removed so that she would not have to accept her diminishing looks. Although she continued her collaboration with Pierson between 1893-5, the photographs lack the direction of her earlier works, and suggest possible mental instability. She died in Paris on 28 November 1899 at the age of sixty-two.

La Contessa's legacy is cemented largely by her contribution to photography, with her photographs held in museums worldwide. Her beauty had also captured the attention of George Frederic Watts, Jacques-Emile Blanche and Michele Gordigiani, all of who painted her portrait. Her fascinating and mysterious life has also been the inspiration for several films, publications and most recently, an exhibition in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, entitled La Divine Comtesse: Photographs of the Countess de Castiglione'.

¹ quoted in P. Apraxine & X. Demange, La Divine Comtesse: Photographs of the Countess of Castiglione, New York, 2000, p.25