Do you know the story of Virginia Oldoini, the Countess of Castiglione? Did you know that she was the first ever influencer?
The Countess of Castiglione was one of the most admired women in the nineteenth century. She had married the Count of Castiglione despite not being in love with him. Thanks to her charm, she seduced, among others, one of the most important men of the time, the Emperor of France, Napoleon III.
To all intents and purposes, she was a spy for Count Cavour and the Kingdom of Sardinia, which had participated in the Paris Congress with the other European states, despite not being very powerful at the time.
Considered one of the most beautiful and clever women in Europe, she was a socialite in Turin, Paris and briefly in London, keeping up appearances with a very high standard of living and sparing no expense when it came to her attire.
One of her most famous outfits was the so-called Queen of Hearts dress, which featured a heart embroidered in correspondence of her groin: a real scandal!
When the capital of the Kingdom of Italy was moved from Turin to Florence, the Countess of Castiglione went back to being one of King Victor Emanuel II’s mistresses, although in this case a peasant girl, the Beautiful Rosina, was the king’s favourite.
She was also famous for the over 400 photographic portraits which showed her in her unique, sometimes very provocative style. The Countess of Castiglione, in fact, had posed for a well-known French photographer, choosing to show her legs from her knees down: a real scandal for the time!
Rumour has it that during the Second War of Independence, she became extremely rich thanks to financial espionage, speculating on the stock market and making substantial profits: a really unscrupulous woman!
After a glorious life, she retired in Paris and to leave a lasting memory of her beauty, made a collection of her photos to be exhibited during the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris, but, unfortunately, she died suddenly a few months earlier.
Would you like to find out more about the Countess of Castiglione and other famous people from Turin? Come to our Secret Turin tour, organised by our partners from Somewhere Tours: you will get to know Virginia Oldoini, the Countess of Castiglione, and experience her life, spent between espionage and betrayal: a true spy story of the Italian Risorgimento.
We look forward to seeing you in Turin at the Italian courses of the Scuola Leonardo. In addition to attending our Italian lessons, you will be able to find out everything about the city, including scandalous and interesting anecdotes from the history of Turin, thanks to our free-time activities.
For any doubt or information, contact us, and we’ll be happy to help. We are waiting for you in Turin for your next Italian course in Italy and to find out numerous curiosities about Italy!
Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Turin
The welcoming friendly atmosphere of our school will make you feel at home and you can relax with your classmates in the small gardens of the adjacent pedestrian area.
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