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Lot Essay
Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione (1837 –1899), was born to an aristocratic family from La Spezia. Upon moving to Paris in 1855 she achieved notoriety as a mistress of Emperor Napoleon III of France. During her time in Paris she would influence Napoleon III towards Italian Unity.
Like Clairin’s other noted sitter, Sarah Bernhardt, the the Countess of Castiglione would take full advantage of the developing area of early photography to promote herself. Known for her beauty, she appears in over 700 photographs taken by the imperial court photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson. The Countess would spend a large proportion of her own money on modelling in dramatic poses, recreating tragic heroines in ornate flamboyant dresses.
Clairin here captures the countess in one such a dramatic pose. George Frederic Watts painted her portrait, and Jacques Emile Blanche posthumously painted her portrait in a similar dress to that depicted in the present lot.
The countess spent her final years in an apartment in the Place Vendôme where all of the walls were painted funeral black, the blind were drawn, and mirrors were banished so she did not have to confront the waining of her beauty.
Like Clairin’s other noted sitter, Sarah Bernhardt, the the Countess of Castiglione would take full advantage of the developing area of early photography to promote herself. Known for her beauty, she appears in over 700 photographs taken by the imperial court photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson. The Countess would spend a large proportion of her own money on modelling in dramatic poses, recreating tragic heroines in ornate flamboyant dresses.
Clairin here captures the countess in one such a dramatic pose. George Frederic Watts painted her portrait, and Jacques Emile Blanche posthumously painted her portrait in a similar dress to that depicted in the present lot.
The countess spent her final years in an apartment in the Place Vendôme where all of the walls were painted funeral black, the blind were drawn, and mirrors were banished so she did not have to confront the waining of her beauty.