The Divine Marquise Casati

Today I would like to present a very fascinating figure in my opinion, who is especially close to me because I dedicated to her one of the subsections in my bachelor thesis. When I found her biography, I was surprised that she's so little known to the public. I think her life, very turbulent, is a ready script for a movie. 

Luisa Casati Stampa di Soncino (23 January 1881 – 1 June 1957) is one of the most painted and photographed people of the time. She comes from the richest family in Italy. In the portraits of her youth we see a modest and serious girl in love with art and drawing, who visits very often italian galleries and museums. She's getting married very quickly but it's not a happy marriage. Everything changes because of the meeting with Gabriele D'Annunzio, an italian writer and famous womanizer. He is so fascinated by beauty and original character of the marquise, that in the one of the novel he creates the main protagonist Isabella Inghirami based on the woman.

Under the influence of a romantic relationship Luisa turns into femme fatale. Green eyes, slim figure and pale skin are emphasized by short red hair red, false eyelashes, red lipstick and an extravagant dress. To be more shocking she imports very expensive fabrics and exotic animals like monkeys, cheetahs or parrots and they accompany her very often during public events. She takes care of every detail of her look and experiments with technical innovations.  She is seen dressed in gold or diamonds, once she arrives at the party in a costume made of electric lights. She does all these things because she has only one desire - to become a living work of art. 

The marquise lives life among the high society and artists where is no place for her family. She's friends with Elsa Schiaparelli, Pablo Picasso and Coco Chanel observes her actions with admiration. He spends all the money on organizing parties and decorating palaces in Paris, Venice and Rome, but all this won't end well for her because she will die in poverty, solitude and in addiction to alcohol and drugs. 

To this day her dresses are still discussed in costume academies and her ideas are also used to create clothes in movies. We can say that she was the first celebrity, performer and feminist. She inspires many designers and in her honor was created the american brand Marchesa.