c. 1867
Image: ©Rue des Archives/PVDE/Getty Images
When she first visited the photography studio of Mayer & Pierson in 1856, Virginia Oldoini had already become notorious in Paris society. Married at 17 to Italian Count Francesco Verasis di Castiglione, she had been dispatched to Paris to convince Napoleon III to support Italian unification — instead, she promptly became his mistress.
Their dalliance was brief but helped establish her reputation as a beautiful and enigmatic seductress
She was enthralled with the study of her own beauty, and collaborated with photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson on over 400 self-portraits Read more…
More about Fashion, Photography, France, Beauty, and History
