The Woman Who Spent a Billion Dollars on Being Alive — The Tragic Story of Marchesa Luisa Casati

Night nineteen ten Venice woman walked through St Mark's Square wearing nothing fur coat rope pearls behind walked Nubian servant named Garbi carrying peacock-feather parasol over head beside diamond-studded leashes walked two cheetahs people square stopped always stopped that point name Luisa Casati Marchesa title old enough predate Italian state heiress cotton fortune large enough finance small war muse every significant artist Europe patron Futurism obsession D'Annunzio woman commissioned two hundred portraits herself because decided some point early twenties going living work art world going understand whether wanted not nineteen ten already early stages spending every lira ever inherited nineteen thirty would bankrupt twenty-five million dollars debt everything owned palaces paintings jewels furniture exotic animals seized auctioned pay creditors animals gone servants gone Garbi peacock parasol gone would flee London almost nothing spend last twenty-seven years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luisa_C... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo... https://www.guggenheim-venice.it/ https://www.vogue.com/ If you're fascinated by heiresses who spent billions becoming art, subscribe and drop a comment. #LuisaCasati #MarchesaCasati #VeniceSociety #BelleEpoque #LivingArtwork Luisa Casati bankruptcy million, cheetahs diamond leashes Venice, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Gabriele D'Annunzio relationship, Giovanni Boldini portrait, belladonna dilated pupils, Cartier panther inspiration, two hundred portraits commissioned, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Brompton Cemetery gravestone