Countess castiglione biography of rory gilmore
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Records indicate their marriage did not end because of the affair. Photo by Pierre-Louis Pierson, albumen silver print from glass negative.
By February of 1856, Napoleon III and the Countess had begun an affair. Because in reality Castiglione was something between a spy and an emissary, and her careful machinations changed the very geography of her native Italy.
Portrait in a Black Dress (1856) by Pierre-Louis Pierson.
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This image along with much of Thomas Hines' work is incredibly powerful. During her exile, she had a brief romantic affair with King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.
Virginia Oldoïni finally returned to Paris and the limelight in 1861 and became a prominent member of Parisian society.
It’s not clear how much work it required to convince the Emperor to back her cause, but it is a fact that when Napoleon III and Castiglione reformed their friendship in his Parisian court, he was undecided about the concept of Italian statehood. Due to her affair with two significant royal figures, the social circles Virginia Oldoïni operated within expanded immensely.
She was introduced to individuals like Otto von Bismarck, the Duke of Lauenburg, Germany, Adolphe Thiers, the second President of France and first President of the French Third Republic, and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the Queen of Prussia and the first Empress of Germany as the wife of Wilhelm I, the first Emperor of Germany.
Source: Pierre-Louis Pierson / Public Domain.
By Lauren Dillon
Lauren Dillon
Lauren Dillon is a freelance writer with experience working in museums, historical societies, and archives. When Victor-Emanuel sent Castiglione to speak with the Pope personally, on behalf of His Highness, she was successful in convincing the pontiff to not object to an Italian state.
Castiglione and her beauty had been a rumor in the City of Light until she arrived and removed any questions about her looks.
It is clear the Countess saw herself as a political influencer and a force to be reckoned with. It worked; Napoleon III broke off their relationship, Castiglione was no longer welcome at court, and she was effectively kicked out of Parisian society.
Countess Castiglione, September 1857, from page 11 of the Nigra Album (Disderi Studio carte de visite prints).
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Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, Part I
A variation on the "Ritrosetta" dress; 1864. Unfortunately, her plans for an exhibit would never come to pass.
Virginia Oldoïni passed away on November 28, 1899, at the age of sixty-two.
She meticulously documented her entire life; so much so that upon her death in 1899, the Italian government delayed the release of her estate to her heirs and dispatched a team to review her personal documents to ensure nothing embarrassing or problematic could be released. Virginia Oldoïni was known to send some of these portraits of herself in elaborate clothing or more scandalous images of just her exposed knees, ankles, and feet to her many lovers.
In the final years of her life, Virginia Oldoïni became a recluse.
Castiglione had come to the Napoleonic courts for her society debut, so when she returned to Paris in 1855, the Countess was greeting a childhood friend. Soon the affair was a full-blown relationship. One of her only biographers, Frédéric Loilee, a French historian and contemporary, describes her childhood home as a “...perfectly authentic palace.” She liked to tell others her formative years were spent in a quaint, pastoral setting.
His name was Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour and Prime Minister to Emmanuel II, the King of Piedmont-Sardinia.
She was also too ambitious to allow herself to be defined only within the role of wife. (Accessed August 5, 2022.)
McPherson, Heather (2001) La Divine Comtesse: (Re)presenting the Anatomy of a Countess in The Modern Portrait in Nineteenth Century France. There is no doubt this enticed him. She returned to Italy for a few years, but would return to Paris in 1861 to once again win over the bevy of European aristocrats who made the city their home.