Paris, France
(Pierre-Louis Pierson / Getty)
Of an Italian aristocratic background, Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoïni, Countess of Castiglione, became known simply as La Castiglione. Born in 1837, she had married the Count of Castiglione at the age of seventeen. Voyaging to Paris with the Count the following year, she attained for herself the position of Napoleon III’s mistress. As a result, she was elevated to the highest levels of European society, and acquired equally high levels of notoriety.
La Castiglione’s true passion was her own appearance. Working with photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson, she created around 700 portraits across four decades. Pierson’s role was often merely the camera’s operator – all other elements, including lighting, staging and camera angles were executed by the Countess. The cost of the enterprise depleted her fortune and sent her into debt.
She died in November 1899 at the age of sixty-two. The years approaching her death were lived out in an apartment in central Paris, decorated in black, dark blinds drawn all day, and all mirrors removed. She remained in the apartment during daylight hours, only venturing outside under cover of darkness.
‘In Parisian society the gay season has always its queen. The sovereign of last winter was the lovely Italian Countess of Castiglione. What elbowing in the seasons to obtain a glimpse of this new majesty, who so coquettishly endeavored to escape the admiring gaze of the crowd! Alas! For the consistency of Parisian worship, it is said that the countess is dethroned, and that the queen of the next few months will be Madame Serrano, wife of the Spanish Ambassador.’
Daily Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia, December 31, 1856
