Thursday, 13 November 2014

Mostro: La Divina Marchesa

As Il Meteo predicted we have had very rainy weather in Venice-as for everywhere else the forecasts are not always right and we have had quite a few hours when the weather has been ok.  It's great when you're staying here and can wander around in light rain and head home or to a museum or gallery if it all gets too wet.  We had intended going to Ferrara today but won't as the forecast there is worse than Venezia -it is clearing up here today.

A few days ago we went to Palazzo Fortuny to see an exhibition called
 La Divina Marchesa: Arte e vita di Luisa Casati dalla Belle Époque agli Anni folli

We mainly went to see Palazzo Fortuny but unfortunately we were only able to see those areas which were part of the exhibition and the rooms were not that well lit. It was an overcast day and the lighting did not show off the beautiful Fortuny fabric wall coverings well. Maybe the many photos that I have seen in the past had lighting specifically for photography or filming.

The exhibition was disappointing because really it was just about a self indulgent wealthy woman and her fawning followers and it was difficult to relate to her at all.  She must have spent the greater part of her life posing for paintings, photos and having fittings for clothes -no different from many monied celebs now I guess.  The excesses of her lifestyle were disturbing and she didn't really seem to have any redeeming features. 

One ballgown virtually completely constructed from peacock feathers would have left a great number of peacocks feeling the cold -if not dead.  There were also scatterings of stuffed or skinned animals  for decoration.

The parts of the exhibition that we found most interesting were items in the Fortuny collection, the wooden models of Ca Pisani and some of the art, and fabric wall hangings.

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