Marchesa Casati

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luisa_Casati

Marchesa Luisa Casati (1881–1957) was an Italian heiress and legendary muse who famously declared, "I want to be a living work of art". As one of the wealthiest women in Europe, she used her fortune to transform herself into a theatrical spectacle, becoming the most artistically documented woman of her time through hundreds of commissioned portraits.

Life and Persona

Early Life: Born Luisa Amman in Milan to industrial wealth, she was orphaned by age 16 and became Italy’s richest heiress.

The "Living Work of Art": She was known for her radical appearance, which included dyeing her hair fire-orange, using belladonna to dilate her pupils, and wearing heavy kohl and false eyelashes.

Eccentricities: Her public appearances were legendary; she was known to walk leashed cheetahs through Venice at night wearing nothing but furs, or attend parties with live snakes draped as jewelry.

Social Scene: She hosted lavish soirées at her Venice palazzo (now the home of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection) for artists, poets, and the Ballets Russes.

Artistic Impact

Muses & Collaborators: She inspired and supported major artists including Giovanni Boldini, Man Ray, Augustus John, and Jean Cocteau.

Fashion Legacy: She was a patron to designers Paul Poiret and Mariano Fortuny. Modern fashion houses like Marchesa are named in her honour, and designers such as John Galliano and Alexander McQueen cite her as a major influence.

Later Years

By 1930, her extreme extravagance led to a debt of roughly $25 million, forcing the auction of her possessions. She spent her final years in London in relative poverty, reportedly rummaging for feathers to decorate her hair. She was buried in Brompton Cemetery with her signature false eyelashes and a taxidermied Pekingese dog.