simulacral
“Though they talk of love, it is not love that they seek (‘Love is, in fact, always a symbol for something else’, Schnitzler noted in his diary in 1895); nor in the end, is it even sex iself. As the illusions of romance are stripped away, what is left is hunger for connection, for a moment of intensity which which is also a moment of oblivion”
Introduction to Arthus Schnitzler’s La Ronde, Stephen Unwin and Peter Zombory-Moldovan
“Luisa Casati Stampa di Soncino, Marchesa di Roma (Milan, 23 January 1881 - London, 1 June 1957) was an eccentric Italian heiress, muse, and patroness of the arts in early 20th century Europe.
A celebrity and femme fatale, the marchesa’s famous eccentricities dominated and delighted European society for nearly three decades. She captivated artists and literati figures such as Robert de Montesquiou, Erté, Jean Cocteau, Cecil Beaton, Augustus John, and Jack Kerouac.
The beautiful and extravagant hostess to the Ballets Russes was something of a legend among her contemporaries. She astonished Venetian society by parading with a pair of leashed cheetahs and wearing live snakes as jewellery.
By 1930, Casati had amassed a personal debt of $25 million. Unable to satisfy her creditors, her personal possessions were auctioned off. Luisa fled to London, where she lived in comparative poverty. She was rumoured to be seen rummaging in bins searching for feathers to decorate her hair.
Luisa died in London on June 1, 1957. She was buried wearing her black and leopard-skin finery and a pair of false eyelashes.”
