The younger of two daughters of a wealthy cotton merchant Alberto Amman, a native of Austria, mother Lucia Amman is half Italian, half Austrian. father received from title of count. Childhood spent in . She lost her mother at the age of thirteen, and her father died two years later. Louise and her sister became the richest heirs of Italy, their uncle Eduardo Amman took custody of them.

Giovanni Boldini. Reclining Nude

IN married Camillo Casati Stampa di Soncino, Marquis di Roma, bore him a daughter. After that, the couple lived separately (separated in , the divorce was issued only in : Louise became the first Catholic in the world to receive an official divorce). At the same time, the relationship between Louise and , a famous poet in those years. IN the marquise settled in the Venier mansion on in (now located here ) and restored it. For three decades, the Marquise Casati was one of the centers of European society, a select circle of writers, artists, and actors. She traveled the world, visited , , , . Collected exotic animals and shocked the Venetians by going for a walk with two and carrying alive instead of decorations. Arranged balls right on . She was a well-known philanthropist, supported , , , and many other artists. The unthinkable luxury and exoticism of her parties have become legendary.

Many believe that the secular image of Louise was formed under the influence , about which it was said that she was fond of black magic. Louise even named her daughter, who was born in .

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marquise Luisa Casati is a cult figure of European scale in the first third of the 20th century. Her magnetism fascinated famous artists, poets, artists of that time: among close friends and acquaintances of Louise, actress Sarah Bernard, head and theorist of futurism Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, sculptor Jacob Epstein, futurist Giacomo Balla, artist Augustus John, fashion designer Paul Paure, artist Lev Bakst, writer Gabriele d'Annunzio, artist Kees van Dongen, theater figure Sergei Diaghilev, ballerina Isadora Duncan, dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, photographer Cecil Beaton.
The image of an extravagant marquise was created on stage by Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman and others. In 1998, John Galliano brought to the public a haute couture collection dedicated to an eccentric aristocrat, then the young Italian designer Marco Coretti followed his example. The great Karl Lagerfeld fell under the spell of Louise Casati, reviving the spirit of the divine marquise in a series of his creations (2003). Casati's muse also hovered over the Armani collection (2005).
The only biography of the Marchioness is set out in the book Infinite Variety by Scott Ryerson and Michael Iaccarino. The text is written on the basis of documentary sources, memoirs of contemporaries, excerpts from the works of writers and poets from her environment are given (citations are provided with links).
After the release of the book in 1999, there was a renewed interest in the enigmatic Louise. Infinite Variety was translated into French and Italian, and a separate British edition was released.

The Furious Marquise is a romanticized biography of the Marquise Luisa Casati, whose extravagance was the talk of the town, and few knew that this was a way to get rid of the childhood complexes of a timid ugly woman from a wealthy family. As an adult, this Italian amazed Europe with her unusual (accentuated slenderness, huge eyeliner, and mop of red hair) and passion for monochrome in outfits and interiors (she even matched dogs and cats to the color of the living room and dresses). It is pleasant to call her name on a par with Gabriele D Annuzio, Sergei Diaghilev, Lev Bakst, Isadora Duncan, Vaslav Nijinsky. The publication is made in the style of the mvrkiza itself - coated paper, lacquer pattern on the cover, luxurious illustrations. -Le Figaro Madame (Russia)

“I want to become a living masterpiece,” Luisa Casati said in her youth, and she did it perfectly. Living either in Venice, or in Rome, or in Paris, or in Capri, the marquise did nothing but shock the public: she collected palaces, walked cheetahs on a leash, adored snakes, and spent fortunes on luxurious feasts. She was idolized by D'Annunzio and Diaghilev, Poiret, Bakst and Erte sewed outfits for her, Boldini, Martini, Van Dongen and Zuloaga painted portraits, Man Ray, Beaton and de Meyer captured on film the piercing look of her huge eyes ... This is the first book about the legendary marquise, published in Russian.

There was no more amazing woman in the history of the Marquise Luisa Casati - since her whole life was one big performance, which she continued with perseverance until her death; one big, as they would say now, performance, an amazing performance, for which she diligently created costumes and designed interiors, which in the end cost her a fortune, and the marquise died in poverty. However, designers and artists are returning to her image to this day. Every fashion designer with an education (and in the case of Europe and without education) has heard of Luisa Casati and knows that thickly outlined in black, huge eyes, a pale vampire face and hair a la Gorgon medusa is her. In the 70s, films were actively made about her: the most famous film was called Time Will Tell, where Liza Minnelli and Ingrid Bergman played. The publishing house "Slovo" published the book "Furious Marquise".

The fate of the legendary Luisa Casati” with chic illustrations (probably there is no such person on earth, apart from political leaders, who would be drawn so often). She was born into a rich and noble family, she did not differ in beauty in her youth, she was married to a beautiful, carefree offspring of an equally noble family, she gave birth to a daughter, met the French writer Gabriele d'Anunuzzio, and then what is called began. Well, for starters, she cheated on her husband, and then she quickly began to change herself. She became a work of art - the way her lover seemed to see her. And she became such as even the escentric d'Annunzio could not imagine her. She bought a Venetian palazzo that was almost falling apart and began to invest incredible funds in it: behind the walls, which seemed about to collapse, everything sparkled with incredible luxury: candelabra from the workshop of famous glassblowers, alabaster vases of ivory flowers illuminated from the inside, flocks of white peacocks and albino thrushes in a luxurious garden - Louise deliberately withstood everything in black and white, and once made a fuss by painting her gondola white, contrary to city rules. Her black and white greyhounds were brought from Rome.

The spacious garden certainly pleased them more than the neighbors - a couple of cheetahs: Louise began to appear on the veranda with spotted predators, who also accompanied her on walks along the lagoon. In addition, she hired an exotic servant - a gigantic Negro named Garbi. He became one of the main characters in the carnivals that she arranged. And she loved carnivals, each time ordering costumes for the famous Lev Bakst for them, no more, no less. The appearance of the marquise over the years became more and more shocking: the shade of the powder was more and more deadly, emerald, circled in coal-black circles (up to the eyebrows) frightened. Louise applied Indian mascara to her eyelids and applied thin strips of black velvet. The length of her false eyelashes increased from year to year; fiery lips could compete with fiery hell where it, in the opinion of many, came from. From numerous sources it is known about the unusual night walks of the Marquise: throwing a fur stole over her naked body, she walked around Piazza San Marco with her cheetahs in diamond collars. Behind walked the Moor with two burning torches, illuminating this amazing picture for the public.

I was tempted to build a garden in a bottle here. Here's one.

Therefore, we went to the store in a neighboring village to buy plants. And in this village there is a castle, such a concrete, huge castle for half a village. Here's one.

It became interesting for me to find out in more detail what is there with this castle, and how. I returned home, naturally, I forgot about the garden in a bottle, and let's google it. This castle was built already in the middle of the 14th century, and belonged to the owners of Milan, the family of the Dukes of Visconti. They came there for summer holidays, for hunting, for harvesting, or whatever else they did in the summer in those days. Well, then, as usual, with the death of those and these, the castle went from hand to hand. Until it became the property of the Casati Stampa di Soncino family of marquises. And then, I read, after the tragic events in the family, it was bought by a wealthy entrepreneur.

Here, as you can guess, I immediately pricked up my ears - what kind of tragedy that I still don’t know about? And let's google again, now with great interest. Then another page of the Italian criminal chronicle, hitherto unknown, opened up to me, and such that it is time to start the tag "their morals."
Under the cut, a continuation, a little 18+.

The penultimate, then, the owner of the castle and a bunch of other real estate was Camillo Casati-Stampa di Soncino. And he married a second marriage to one beauty from the common people, named Anna Fallarino. This Anna was a beauty and a woman without complexes, which probably attracted the Marquis, because he himself was a big entertainer. He loved Anna Fallarino, albeit strongly, but in his own way, in an aristocratic way. For example, he liked to watch his wife copulate with various strangers, whom he specially invited for this purpose, and then photographed them as a keepsake in various indecent poses. And he kept strict documented records with detailed descriptions for all this disgrace.

They say that he even had a whole island at his disposal, with a mansion in mirrors and transparent walls, where he indulged in fornication in the company of the same perverts. And woe to that inquisitive mouther who would decide to poke his nose at the island: the marquis, they say, kept loaded guns around and shot to kill.

In general, they spent their time so cheerfully: the wife, it seems, also liked this alignment, or maybe she simply had nowhere to go, who knows, but they seemed to live in harmony and harmony. They indulged in their orgies, accumulated photographic material, and would have continued to live like this, but then suddenly the aristocrat became jealous of Anna Fallarino for one of the young guys, whom, in fact, he himself invited to participate in orgies. That's the perverted logic of the Marquis.
He did not like that his wife seemed to have feelings of love and tenderness for the guy.

Either the Marquis really turned out to be such a jealous man, or he felt sorry for the shaky prospect of future orgies, but one fine day, while hunting with friends, he found out that in his absence his wife was hosting that same guy. The marquis rushed home, kicked open the door and shot first at his wife, then at her lover, and then shot himself. So they were found: Anna, peacefully resting in an armchair, who did not really have time to understand what had happened, her lover, who had time to realize that at that very moment he was finished, and the Marquis himself with his own half-demolished head.

They say the police were themselves shocked by this scene. Firstly, because it was not about anyone, but about one of the richest and most influential families in Italy. Secondly, because many had heard about the tricks of the Marquis and his wife, and in confirmation of this they found a magazine with all their intimate accounting. And thirdly, because poor Anna, according to eyewitnesses, instead of blood, an incomprehensible white liquid flowed out of the wound, and the backward Italian policemen could not understand for a long time what it could be. Because in 1970, few people knew about silicone and breast augmentation operations, which the unfortunate madam in America underwent for a lot of money.

In short, this triple murder-suicide made a lot of noise in the newspapers, especially since almost immediately some well-wisher sent to print a lot of spicy photos of Anna Fallarino, taken by the amateur photographer marquis during their love joys. Thus, the Italian layman could resent the fallen aristocracy enough, envy her in hindsight, and finally calm himself with the thought that the rich also cry.

The marquis left a minor daughter from his first marriage, who inherited all his boundless wealth. Here, too, there was some intrigue: during his lifetime, the Marquis left a will, according to which everything, absolutely everything passed into the hands of Anna Fallarino, in the event that she died after him. The relatives of the unfortunate woman, a simple people who had previously stupidly envied the lucky Anna, began to rub their hands in anticipation of chopping off part of some estate for themselves. But the dynamics of deaths showed that the Marquis logically left this world last, so the poor relatives were left out of work.

And the unfortunate daughter found herself under the pressure of her grief, the attention of the yellow press, public opinion and the ubiquitous tax, which immediately demanded to pay crazy money as an inheritance tax. The girl found herself in a difficult situation, but her cunning lawyer came to her aid, who advised her to sell some of the property of the Marquis to a wealthy entrepreneur, a certain Silvio Berlusconi. Which was done, and they say that when selling it, it was very cheap.

Saved

The title of Marquise Louise Adele Rosa Maria received at the age of 19, having married twenty-three-year-old Camilo Casati Stampa. However, it is still unknown who benefited more from this marriage - the noble but impoverished Casati Stampa family or the richest family of Italian industrialists Aman, on whose estates King Umberto I often visited. sister Francesca was taken by governesses, and the old villa "Amalia" with ceiling paintings by the great Luini. The pride of the parents was the beautiful Francesca.

The younger Louise did not differ in appearance or ingenuity in childhood. The only thing that attracted the girl were her huge emerald eyes, which she hid under a lush mop of red hair. The fact that fate must be taken into their own hands, Louise realized very soon. On her seventeenth birthday, the girl herself cut her luxurious hair, plunging the whole family into a state of shock. But her eyes, which had attracted eyes before, seemed to have become even larger and now did not leave anyone indifferent.

The Marquis of Casati became one of the many victims of the diabolical beauty of Louise, as everyone around noted. And the only one she reciprocated. A year later, the young people got married.

The couple decided to spend their honeymoon in Paris, where at that time the World Exhibition was taking place. The attention of the secular public was attracted by the Art Nouveau art coming into fashion and black magic, which was personified by Cristina Trivulzio. There were legends about this woman in Paris, they said that in her apartment she kept the embalmed corpse of a 17-year-old lover, Chopin and Balzac admired her.

At one of the balls, the Marchesa Casati, outwardly very similar to Trivulzio, was mistaken for a sorceress. The admiration of the public had a young woman to taste. Now she deliberately tries to emphasize her resemblance to Christina, and at secular parties during charades she invariably receives the task of portraying Trivulzio. Her main hobby is books on black magic and the occult.

When she gives birth to a daughter a year later, she will give her the name of her famous doppelgänger. And then she will send her to a boarding school, where a girl under 13 years old will be dressed in bonnets and pantaloons so that her mother, when she comes to visit her, does not feel her own age.

Relations with her husband soon cease to interest the marquise. Camilo is calm about her many hobbies, devoting all her time to dogs and horses. However, the couple parted only in 1924. In doing so, Casati will become the first Catholic woman in the world to receive an official divorce.

Best of the day

style empress

The most famous poet and playwright of that time, Gabriel D'Annunzio, became the main person of her life for many years. Their acquaintance took place on a hunt, and the first impression of the marquise from the poet was monstrous. “He was bald and looked like a hard-boiled egg and set in a Faberge stand” - this is how D’Annunzio’s appearance was described. But the man was so courteous and charming that the shortcomings of his appearance were forgotten a second after he began to speak. No wonder among the ladies he conquered was Eleonora Duse herself.

Casati also does not remain indifferent to the playwright's charms. All and sundry gossip about their romance, and newspapers publish cartoons of the tripartite alliance of Louise, Camilo and Gabriel. But the scandalous fame not only does not upset the lovers, but, on the contrary, it seems to inspire. And soon they begin to talk about the Marquis Casati as about the most elegant woman in Europe. Millions of husbands who spend time in the stables or in the kennel open the doors of the best tailors for her. During carnival week in Rome, Louise appears every day in a new outfit, stunning the public's imagination with their luxury and elegance. Newspapers change their anger to mercy, and then completely switch to an enthusiastic tone, describing the costumes of the marchioness.

The first portrait of the Marchioness, Paul César Erle. 1900

“On the first evening, the Marquise Casati appeared dressed as Sarah Bernhardt. In the second - in an exact copy of the attire of the Byzantine Empress Theodora. In the third - in a dress of white lace and a black satin cape trimmed with ermine. What's next?"

And then the marquise turns her attention to the arrangement of palaces, for the purchase of which her husband does not spare money. First of all, Casati acquires a huge house in Rome, the interior of which is designed in black and white. The snow-white walls were decorated with Venetian mirrors, the windows - white velvet curtains, the floor - marble and the skins of polar bears. “In this house, I wanted to speak in a whisper and walk on tiptoe, as in a church,” her niece recalled about the Roman dwelling of the Marquise.

For Casati, there are no trifles - she drills the servants, explaining at what angle the fountain in the hall should hit in order to create a special musical effect. At the entrance he installs two gazelles cast from pure gold. And he gets exotic animals - the black mastiff Angelina, who recognized only the commands of the hostess, Persian and Siamese cats. Her main favorites are black and white greyhounds, walking around the palace in silver collars adorned with diamonds.

Young lady with dog

The Marquise's appearance is as widely discussed as her houses. In public, she appears in handmade Venetian lace, her outfits are distinguished by puffy sleeves, long trains and brocade belts trimmed with diamonds. She emphasizes the natural pallor of her face with powder, and circles her eyes with charcoal, making them unnaturally huge and frightening. Her favorite colors are black and white.

The main detail of the dress is a long string of pearls wrapped around the neck in several layers.

Soon the Marchioness gets bored with Rome. In general, she gets tired of any things, even those that once delighted her, quite quickly. Instead of the Roman palace, Casati decides to take on the arrangement of the Venetian palazzo. Moreover, D'Annunzio in each letter persuades her to move to this city - "a work of art and love, which is languishing with desire." At first, in Venice, Louise stays at one of the most expensive Danieli hotels. One day, during breakfast, to which the Marquise, as usual, descended in a luxurious black dress of Venetian lace and a traditional thread of white pearls, her attention was attracted by a short, elderly man sitting at a nearby table.

The sketch of the Indo-Persian costume was composed by Lev Bakst for the marchioness in 1913.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the stranger. - Artist Giovanni Boldini. Will you allow me to paint your portrait? "What can you do?" Marquise held out her hand for him to kiss. At that moment, the string of pearl beads suddenly broke, and large stones fell like peas all over the restaurant. Boldini, despite his corpulence, deftly began to collect pearls and after a few moments laid out a whole handful of jewelry on the table of the marquise. “In my free time from kisses, I am a pearl diver,” said the great artist, respectfully bowing his head.

The first sketches of Casati's portrait were made in Venice. The work had to be completed in Paris, where the marquise moved specifically in order to pose for the famous portrait painter. Every morning she came to his studio, dressed in a tight-fitting Paul Poiret dress in black satin trimmed with ermine. A bouquet of silk violets was pinned to her belt, and a purple scarf was wrapped around the marquise's silk-gloved hands. At the feet of the marquise sat a black greyhound with a silver collar.

A year later, the portrait was exhibited at the Paris Salon. The heroine of "Portrait of a Young Lady with a Dog" becomes a byword. All of France wants to meet Casati. But she, having paid the artist 20,000 francs, crazy money for those times, is already far away: the most interesting chapter of her life begins in Venice.

The same Casati

The ancient palazzo, which belonged to the Venier family for several centuries, was acquired by the Marquise in 1910. The former owners, three of whose representatives were Venetian doges, dreamed of turning their palazzo into the largest palace in the city. However, during the construction, the financial affairs of the family were shaken and the construction was never completed.

Luisa Casati's biographers Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Iaccarino, in their book The Furious Marquise, describe how the new owner gave the restorers the unusual task of reinforcing the dilapidated building from the inside, but preserving the outward signs of fading splendor. The interior decoration was designed in traditional black and white colors. Every season, coming to Venice from Rome, the Marquise transported black and white marble flooring. Only one room stood out among the other halls in its design - its walls were decorated with plates of ancient gold.

In the courtyard of the palazzo, Casati arranges a zoo. Albino thrushes sit on the branches of the trees, which are dyed every day to match the color of the marquise's hair, white peacocks walk along the paths. The company of the mistress of the house is made up of snakes and two cheetahs, with whom she walks along the Venetian canals on a gondola. Once she even aroused the ire of the city authorities by allowing herself to repaint the gondola from the traditional black to white. Passers-by, who saw from the bridges the approach of the marquise's gondola, invariably greeted her with thunderous applause.

Having settled in Venice, the marquise abandons traditional lace. Now she idolizes Mariano Fortuny, the great magician of Venetian fashion. The first appearance of Casati to the city took place in a cloak with a hood of red brocade from Fortuny. In front of the hostess walked a black and white greyhound in turquoise collars, and behind - a black servant with a fan of peacock feathers. The next morning, the Marquise became the main topic of conversation, turning into “that Casati” for everyone.

Moreover, in the heroine of the recently published novel by Gabriel D'Annunzio "Perhaps, yes, perhaps not," the Marquise was easily recognizable. “She wrapped herself in a long oriental tippet made of those materials that the magician Mariano Fortuny dips into his dyeing vats and takes out dyed in the colors of dreams ... She liked to emphasize her twenty-five-year-old freshness with red and black: thickly blacken her eyelids over burning eyes and bleed her lips with cinnabar ... With all while her fragility, flexibility and voluptuousness were akin to the creations of Michelangelo. Dresses were inseparable from her, as ash is inseparable from coals ... With her whole being, she demonstrated that witchcraft is skillfully inspired insanity.

All the great guests of the beautiful city become guests of the Venetian Palazzo Marquise. One evening for dinner, Casati invited a company of famous Russians - Alexander Benois, Lev Bakst, Sergei Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky. The meal took place at the request of Isadora Duncan, who dreamed of joining Sergei Diaghilev's troupe.

Diaghilev, despite Duncan's world fame, refused to accept her into his troupe. But the memories of the evening for all its participants remained unforgettable. As Romola Nijinska later wrote in her memoirs, “the hostess of the evening had nothing on but a snake.” After two glasses of wine, Duncan invited Nijinsky to a waltz. “Yes,” she said after the dance. - It is a pity that this boy did not meet me when he was two years old. I would have taught him to dance." The reception ended with a quarrel. D'Annunzio, going up to Nijinsky, suggested: "Dance something for me!" In response, the great dancer was not at a loss: “And you write something for me!”

For Casati herself, the Russian dinner did not pass without a trace - she begins to dress at Bakst's. “I am not a widow to walk around in black,” she declares and abandons the usual black and white gamut. For Casati, the most important thing is not to be like everyone else. While the whole world is standing in line for Fortuny, she orders costumes for Lev Bakst, proclaiming the fashion for the "barbarian East." In total, the artist will create for her about 4 thousand outfits.

But sometimes, for a walk around Piazza San Marco, the Marchesa needs only a fur stole, which barely covers her naked body. In front of her, as usual, she releases a cheetah in a diamond collar, and behind her she allows the Moor to march with a torch in her hand. “Of the clothes she wore only perfume” - this popular joke of the Venetians was dedicated to the Marquise.

To receive an invitation to the legendary Casati balls was the ultimate dream for any self-respecting celebrity of the beginning of the century. Sometimes the authorities allow the Marchesa to organize festivities in the main square of Venice. On such days, all the windows of the houses overlooking San Marco are rented out to curious townspeople.

Casati arranges several balls and carnivals a month. All of Europe is discussing the millions it spends on entertainment. “A car named Luisa Casati devoured tons of money every day, like bales of compressed hay,” writes Dario Cecchi about it.

The secular observer of those years, Gabriel Louis Prenguet, describes Casati's evenings in his memoirs as follows: “The door to the room where we were sitting and talking suddenly opened and the deceased entered. Her magnificent figure was tightly covered with a white satin dress with a long train, a bouquet of white orchids covered her chest. Fiery red hair emphasized the alabaster pallor of a face that was completely devoured by two huge eyes; the dilated jet-black pupils were an ominous contrast to the bright scarlet lips, which seemed like an open wound against this pallor. In her arms was a leopard cub.

She looked at the guests in a small, diamond-studded lorgnette and invited everyone to a masquerade, which was to be held in a few days in her palace on the banks of the Grand Canal ... On the night of the carnival, the marquise sent gondolas with gondoliers dressed to the nines to transport the invited (human two hundred) to a small pier allocated to her by special order of the mayor ... There the orchestra was already waiting for the guests. Along the entire perimeter of the square stood at a distance of about ten meters from each other black giants in scarlet silk robes. A golden chain was stretched between them, blocking the access of the crowd ...

The pride of the Marquise were 130 of her portraits. One of her favorites was Romaine Brooks, painted in 1920.

To the enthusiastic cries of the assembled, the Marquise Casati stepped out of the gondola. Giant black and white flamingo feathers fluttered from a moonshine satin gown cinched at the waist by a black velvet sash; with one hand she clasped a bouquet of black irises, in the other she held two leopards on a leash. The evening was fabulous."

When the Marquise held receptions in her palazzo, the guests were first taken through the garden with outlandish animals. Once Casati was asked why she keeps monkeys, because a rather unpleasant smell is heard from their cages. In response, the hostess went to one of the cages, put a lilac branch inside and, pointing to how the gorilla began to tear the flower buds furiously, said: “Isn't it wonderful? It looks like a Chinese painting!”

Only once did Casati's carnival end in scandal. The Negro servant, painted in gold paint, lost consciousness from lack of air and almost died. The next morning, the townspeople again had something to talk about. The Marquise has long become the same landmark of the city as its canals and St. Mark's Cathedral. But soon Louise got tired of this, and she chose a new target for herself - Paris.

The queen of lights

First of all, there she acquires the luxurious palace of the Palais-Rose, built of pink marble in the exact likeness of the royal Grand Trianon. The pride of her new home is a library of books on black magic and a collection of 130 portraits of her, painted by the greatest artists.

Very soon, Casati becomes the uncrowned queen of Paris. Car traffic stopped in the city as soon as the Marquise appeared on its boulevards. Although it is not known what amazed drivers and pedestrians more - Louise, dressed in a wig with ram's horns, or a crocodile, whom she led on a leash. At balls at the Paris Opera, she often appeared in a dress made of egret feathers, which flew off her with every movement so that she left the theater building almost naked.

In 1924, Pablo Picasso created an unusual costume for her, the main element of which was light bulbs. But this time the marquise did not have time to impress the audience - the headdress got stuck in the doorway and its owner was shocked. Yes, so hard that for some time Casati convulsed on the floor.

In France, a regiment of her famous friends arrived. The famous Felix Yusupov describes with admiration in his memoirs the evening he spent in the palace at the Marchioness. Most of all, the Russian count was struck by the mistress's costume, consisting only of a golden diadem. The most attractive thing about Casati was still her eyes, which she deliberately expands with the help of drops consisting of the poisonous belladonna plant. Futurist artists consider Louise their muse and paint portraits of her, the center of which is her "look of a jaguar that has just gnawed its cage."

She still lives in a big way and does not want to notice the changed fashion, which, due to the outbreak of the First World War, dictates modesty and cheapness. The main topic of conversation in impoverished Paris for a long time was dinner at the Aga Khan III, where the dress of the Marquise occupied six chairs next to her.

Receiving guests at her place, she orders the servants to throw handfuls of copper into the fireplace so that their green flashes emphasize the red color of her hair. The marquise no longer orders jewelry from Lalique, but from Louis Cartier, who makes special gold cases for her favorite snakes.

For several years, Louise lives between three cities - Rome, Venice and Paris, periodically traveling around the world. Ballerina Anna Pavlova could not forget for a long time how Casati suddenly appeared in her box at her performances in Rome in a helmet made of ostrich feathers.

The marquise became the model for the sculptor Enrico Mazzolani in 1915.

In order to make the trips more fun, an orchestra of musicians accompanies the Marquis throughout Europe. As soon as she appears in the city garden in her defiant bright outfits, all the peacocks living there run to her, mistaking Casati for their mistress.

Sculptor Ekaterina Baryatinskaya, in her autobiography Portraits against the Background, left the following description of the marchioness: “I saw not a woman, but a work of art… Wide Persian harem pants made of heavy golden brocade, tightly tied at the ankles with skillfully made diamond clasps. On her feet are gold sandals with high diamond heels. The neckline ended at a wide brocade belt; the marvelously sculpted chest was slightly covered with lace of the finest workmanship. Massive pearl earrings flaunted in the ears. A huge black pearl shimmered on the finger of one hand, a white one of the same size on the other. A string of pearls wrapped around the swan's neck several times.

Truly a phenomenon from the Thousand and One Nights, but there was nothing supernatural about it. The fabulous outfit surprisingly suited her. She was so sharply different from all other women that it was absolutely impossible to imagine her in an ordinary dress.

Alas, every fairy tale comes to an end sooner or later. The 1002nd night of the Marchesa Casati took place in 1927, when she decided to have a ball in honor of the Count of Cagliostro. In pursuit of pleasure, she did not notice that extravagance has long gone out of fashion and causes only irritation. The bad weather and the aggressive behavior of the peasants, who threw rotten tomatoes on the Marquise's guests, also did their job: they caused panic, and the holiday was disrupted.

In order to atone for sins, the marquise invites the archbishop to the palace. And when he refers to the disease, he pretends to be dying. The priest could not refuse the last will of the suffering, and, despite pneumonia, he appeared to confess to the Marquis. The "dying woman", dressed in a white dress and pearls, met the archbishop on a stretcher carried by four naked servants.

The confession did not take place, and the imaginary patient, by order of the authorities, was sentenced to treatment in a clinic for the mentally ill for six months. But her strange behavior was most likely explained much more simply - cocaine and opium in those years were easily accessible and were considered almost a sign of good taste. Yes, and at parties, the Marquise appeared with an invariable cane, from the golden knob of which she poured herself the strongest absinthe at the height of the banquet.

In 1976, the great Ingrid Bergman played the marquise in the film Time Will Tell.

In order to pay the bill for the Cagliostro ball, which amounted to half a million francs, the Marquise has to rent out her Venetian palazzo. At that time, there were about 25 million today's dollars in her accounts. However, she was always rather careless about money. She paid taxi drivers with diamond rings, and for coal she could give a golden figurine.

In order to somehow improve his condition, Casati decides to marry an American millionaire. Upon learning that the chosen one is married, she telegraphs to her friend: “Nothing, she will see me and get divorced. I'm leaving." Arriving in New York and going on a fateful date, the Marquise discovered that her beloved python was dead. For any money, she demands to rent an animal at a local zoo. When her request was fulfilled and a huge python was reclining on her shoulders, the long-awaited rich man was invited into the room. However, the man did not have time to say a single word - when he saw the snake, he immediately fled.

Having paid the last savings for renting a python, Louise Casati returns to Paris with nothing, where creditors are already waiting for her. The auction of personal belongings (the Boldini portrait was purchased by Rockefeller, and the greyhound figurines by Coco Chanel) only partially covered the debts of the eccentric marquise. According to the verdict of the court, she is imprisoned for two months. True, given the worldwide fame of the defendant and merits in the field of patronage, the conviction was conditional.

“The dwelling of the Marquise Casati turned into a haunted house,” Jean Cocteau recalled in his memoirs “The Hardships of Being”. - When it belonged to her, everything was different ...

She left her room to applause worthy of a great tragic actress. It remains to play the tragedy. But she didn't play it. That is her tragedy. That is why her house is now inhabited by ghosts ... "

Before permanently moving to London, the Marquise makes her last visit to Venice. Now she herself carries the candelabra with candles, and in front of her scurries the little Pekingese, who has become the center of her life in recent years. The new generation of Venetians, who did not recognize the legendary marquise in a woman, are talking: “Who is this old witch?”

For the first time in the English capital, the marquis rents a house for five pounds a month, in which the previous tenants refused to live because of its huge size. And then he moves to a small room in an apartment located near the Herods store. Left without money and alone, Casati finally begins to communicate with her daughter and granddaughter. “Grandma came to us by taxi,” the girl recalled. - But it seemed to me that on a broomstick. She really looked like an evil witch." By the way, the marquise did not allow herself to be called “grandmother” ...

In England, the artist Augustus John becomes her closest friend, to whom she comes in a worn velvet suit and a half-decayed leopard skin. “The layer of powder on her face was getting thicker,” John recalled. “The tales of Italy are getting longer and the costumes are getting thinner.”

The last address of the legend is London, Beaufort Gardens, 32

However, despite the poverty, Casati's manners remained the same. "Serve drinks," she commanded proudly. And an old hotel footman brought in half a bottle of beer.

Two years before the death of the legendary woman, a book by fashion photographer Cecil Beaton, The Mirror of Fashion, appeared on bookstores, in which, among other things, photographs of the 73-year-old marquise were published. Beaton immediately topped the list of her enemies that she compiled in the last year of her life. Most of all, Louise was offended not even by the photos that Cecil promised not to publish, but by the story of how, during the fitting of the costume of St. Sebastian, the Marquis demanded tea and coffee. “I will ask for drinks that spoil the complexion. If I was thirsty, I would order champagne. How can you lie so blatantly? Casati was indignant.

She died at the age of 76 after a brain hemorrhage that happened to her during a séance. The funeral of the secular queen of Europe was attended by only six people. Once one of the richest women in the world, she left behind a mattress stuffed with horsehair, a broken cuckoo clock and a bouquet of artificial flowers ...

P.S. Posthumous fame came to the Marquise in 1964, when the famous playwright Tennessee Williams wrote the play "Milk Rivers Here Are Dried," the main prototype of which was Casati. Four years later, Elizabeth Taylor played her in Boom. Subsequently, the image of Louise on the stage will be embodied by Vivien Leigh, and in the cinema - by Ingrid Bergman.

The history of the marchioness inspired the creation of fashion collections by John Galliano, Tom Ford and Giorgio Armani. Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Iaccarino will write Luisa Casati's biography The Furious Marquise, which has become a worldwide bestseller. To be continued?

She shocked, attracted, frightened.

It was impossible not to notice it, it was impossible to forget it. A woman with oversized eyes - she circled them with charcoal, bright - with a fiery red mop of hair, thin and tall - she emphasized this with defiant outfits or their complete absence.

Louise was born on January 23, 1881 in Milan, in a wealthy Amman family. Since childhood, she, closed and unsociable, was fond of art. In her youth, she was shy, she was not attracted to the light, the balls seemed uninteresting. Only after becoming the wife of the Marquis Camillo Casati, Louise, bored, began to look for entertainment. She invented herself, to which Gabriele D'Annunzio, the rake poet, contributed a lot. He admired her, she also admired herself. They became lovers. But how could the marquise love a man if she loved herself so passionately, selflessly. Subsequently, she had many friends and admirers. And love is one and for life - Louise herself.

The Marquise, the owner of a considerable fortune, was carried away by masquerades and balls. Her appearance became brighter, her outfits more frank. The world admired her techniques. She dressed at the couturier Paul Poiret. Elegant, black, thin.

“On the first evening, the Marquise Casati appeared dressed as Sarah Bernhardt. In the second - in an exact copy of the attire of the Byzantine Empress Theodora. In the third - in a dress of white lace and a black satin cape trimmed with ermine. What's next?"

And then the marquise turns her attention to the arrangement of palaces, for the purchase of which her husband does not spare money. First of all, Casati acquires a huge house in Rome, the interior of which is designed in black and white. The snow-white walls were decorated with Venetian mirrors, the windows - white velvet curtains, the floor - marble and the skins of polar bears. “In this house, I wanted to speak in a whisper and walk on tiptoe, like in a church,” her niece recalled about the Roman dwelling of the Marquise. musical effect. At the entrance he installs two gazelles cast from pure gold. And he gets exotic animals - the black mastiff Angelina, who recognized only the commands of the hostess, Persian and Siamese cats. Her main favorites are black and white greyhounds, walking around the palace in silver collars adorned with diamonds.

Louise bought a palazzo in Venice and turned it into her crazy palace. Ruins trimmed with gold from the inside. The Marquise, deathly pale and green-eyed, would appear with the cheetahs, leading them on diamond-studded leashes. Nijinsky and Isadora Duncan danced in her palazzo… sometimes, for a walk along Piazza San Marco, the marchioness only needs a fur stole, which barely covers her naked body. In front of her, as usual, she releases a cheetah in a diamond collar, and behind her she allows the Moor to march with a torch in her hand. “Of the clothes she wore only perfume” - this popular joke of the Venetians was dedicated to the Marquise.

To receive an invitation to the legendary Casati balls was the ultimate dream for any self-respecting celebrity of the beginning of the century. Sometimes the authorities allow the Marchesa to organize festivities in the main square of Venice. On such days, all the windows of the houses overlooking San Marco are rented out to curious townspeople. Every month, Casati arranges several balls and carnivals. All of Europe is discussing the millions it spends on entertainment. “A car named Luisa Casati devoured tons of money every day, like bales of compressed hay,” writes Dario Cecchi about it.

The secular observer of those years, Gabriel Louis Prenguet, describes Casati's evenings in his memoirs as follows: “The door to the room where we were sitting and talking suddenly opened and the deceased entered. Her magnificent figure was tightly covered with a white satin dress with a long train, a bouquet of white orchids covered her chest. Fiery red hair emphasized the alabaster pallor of a face that was completely devoured by two huge eyes; the dilated jet-black pupils were an ominous contrast to the bright scarlet lips, which seemed like an open wound against this pallor. In her arms was a leopard cub.

She looked at the guests in a small, diamond-studded lorgnette and invited everyone to a masquerade, which was to be held in a few days in her palace on the banks of the Grand Canal ... On the night of the carnival, the marquise sent gondolas with gondoliers dressed to the nines to transport the invited (human two hundred) to a small pier allocated to her by special order of the mayor ... There the orchestra was already waiting for the guests. Along the entire perimeter of the square stood at a distance of about ten meters from each other black giants in scarlet silk robes. A golden chain was stretched between them, blocking the access of the crowd ... To the enthusiastic cries of the assembled, the Marquise Casati left the gondola. Giant black and white flamingo feathers fluttered from a moonshine satin gown cinched at the waist by a black velvet sash; with one hand she clasped a bouquet of black irises, in the other she held two leopards on a leash. The evening was fabulous."

But soon Louise got tired of this, and she chose a new target for herself - Paris.

Casati was attracted to art - mainly because she herself could be reflected in it. She became her own drug. A changeable, but eternal, big-eyed image of an exquisite, eccentric marquise.

First of all, there she acquires the luxurious palace of the Palais-Rose, built of pink marble in the exact likeness of the royal Grand Trianon. The pride of her new home is a library of books on black magic and a collection of 130 portraits of her, painted by the greatest artists.

Very soon, Casati becomes the uncrowned queen of Paris. Car traffic stopped in the city as soon as the Marquise appeared on its boulevards. Although it is not known what amazed drivers and pedestrians more - Louise, dressed in a wig with ram's horns, or a crocodile, whom she led on a leash. At balls at the Paris Opera, she often appeared in a dress made of egret feathers, which flew off her with every movement so that she left the theater building almost naked.

In 1924, Pablo Picasso created an unusual costume for her, the main element of which was light bulbs. But this time the marquise did not have time to impress the audience - the headdress got stuck in the doorway and its owner was shocked. Yes, so hard that for some time Casati convulsed on the floor.

In France, a regiment of her famous friends arrived. The famous Felix Yusupov describes with admiration in his memoirs the evening he spent in the palace at the Marchioness. Most of all, the Russian count was struck by the mistress's costume, consisting only of a golden diadem.

She still lives in a big way and does not want to notice the changed fashion, which, due to the outbreak of the First World War, dictates modesty and cheapness. The main topic of conversation in impoverished Paris for a long time was dinner at the Aga Khan the Third, where the dress of the Marquise occupied six chairs standing next to her. Receiving guests at her place, she orders the servants to throw handfuls of copper into the fireplace so that their green flashes emphasize the red color of her hair . The marquise no longer orders jewelry from Lalique, but from Louis Cartier, who makes special gold cases for her favorite snakes.

Her life is a chic game, a performance with the only actress - Luisa Casati. Experiencing a passion for luxury, she got rid of everyday life in all possible, and sometimes, rather, impossible ways. Costumes, travel around the world, exoticism, belladonna - brighter than the eyes; opium; strands of pearls, leopard skins, velvet, sandals with diamond heels, Paris, London, India, Capri ... The Marquise was fond of the occult. Perhaps she was a beautiful witch. She created her own world, unique and crazy, and remained true to herself, her passion for herself, until the end of her days.

The marquise spent incredible sums on her whims, thinking only about what she wanted, no matter how much it cost. Reckless luxury on the verge of farce is over.

Instead, debts appeared. Her paintings, outfits, everything that complemented her image was sold at auction. Before permanently moving to London, the Marquise makes her last visit to Venice. Now she herself carries the candelabra with candles, and in front of her scurries the little Pekingese, who has become the center of her life in recent years. The new generation of Venetians, who did not recognize the legendary marquise in a woman, are talking: “Who is this old witch?”

For the first time in the English capital, the marquis rents a house for five pounds a month, in which the previous tenants refused to live because of its huge size. And then he moves to a small room in the apartment.

In England, the artist Augustus John becomes her closest friend, to whom she comes in a worn velvet suit and a half-decayed leopard skin. “The layer of powder on her face was getting thicker,” John recalled. “Tales about Italy are getting longer, and the costumes are getting thinner.” However, despite the poverty, Casati’s manners remained the same. “Serve drinks,” she proudly ordered. And the old hotel footman brought in half a bottle of beer.

She died at the age of 76 after a brain hemorrhage that happened to her during a séance.

The marquise fulfilled her desires: she inspired artists, writers, fashion designers. Even after her death, she remained a muse. A muse obsessed with herself, in love with herself as a masterpiece.

Posthumous fame came to the Marquise in 1964, when the famous playwright Tennessee Williams wrote the play "Milk Rivers Here Are Dried," the main prototype of which was Casati. Four years later, Elizabeth Taylor played her in Boom. Subsequently, the image of Louise on the stage will be embodied by Vivien Leigh, and in the cinema - by Ingrid Bergman.

The history of the marchioness inspired the creation of fashion collections by John Galliano, Tom Ford and Giorgio Armani. Scot D. Ryersson and Michael Orlando Iaccarino will write Luisa Casati's biography The Furious Marquise, which has become a worldwide bestseller.

There are places on earth whose stories do not at all agree with their appearance. It can be a terrible, kind of inhospitable place - and only the happiest and warmest stories are associated with it, but it happens the other way around ...

Emerald green waters, dazzling blue skies and hilly landscapes, the tiny island of Zannon, lost in the Tyrrhenian Sea, is a seemingly typical Italian island for lovers of tranquility and unity with nature. However, this island has a different reputation. Its name is associated with sexual orgies.

If you swim closer to the island, you can see a colonial-style villa whitening in the distance. There lived the Marquis Casati Stampa, who threw luxurious sex parties, and his beautiful wife, who, in turn, had a passion for unknown young people and indulged this passion with pleasure.
And one fine sunny day in 1970, the Marquis suddenly broke loose, killed his wife with another lover and put a bullet in his forehead.

Marquis with his wife

Now there is nothing on the island except a dilapidated villa, which reminds of a bloody tragedy.

And in the 1960s, music thundered there, yachts with motor boats arrived at the pier and landed numerous guests of a liberated couple, wine flowed like water and permissive love was practiced.

The Marquis of Casati Stampa had a free-spirited view of marriage and was a voyeur - he loved to watch and photograph his wife Anna Fallarino, a former actress, making love on the island's beaches with other men.

Apparently, jealousy was not one of the shortcomings of the marquis, because he went hunting, and his wife seduced young people or swam in what her mother gave birth in the Roman pools of the villa in front of barons, counts and billionaires.

Masquerades were often held on the island, which ended in orgies, which became the norm. There were rumors about the existence of a room in the villa, entirely consisting of mirrors - apparently, for a better view not only of the participants, but also of the spectators.

The fact of dissolute parties was recently confirmed during the renovation. Thousands of empty bottles were found, as well as 1,500 nude photographs of Anna, who, by the way, became the first woman in Italy to undergo breast augmentation in 1970.

Endless fun ended tragically in August 1970.

Anna fell in love with one of her many lovers. And when the marquis returned to their house in Rome, he found his wife in bed with another, which, apparently, was against the rules. He shot them both and put a bullet in his forehead.