Noble Cast

CS: Isn't that the definition of that kind of lifestyle, to live in illusions?

PA: It's difficult to see from here. She was a woman who wanted to live independently, which was not easy at the time if you didn't have a powerful male figure in the background. She is the one who separated from her husband in '58, after their stay in Paris; she had bankrupted him with her carriages, apartments, dresses, and jewelry. When she went back to Italy, she didn't live with him. She just sent him away. She kept their son, then went back to Paris.

CS: Why did she leave Paris in 1857?

PA: She had basically become a liability for the emperor. She had been indiscreet and there had been an attempt on his life at her house when he was spending the night with her. She had no other choice but to leave.

CS: When did she do the now-famous photographs of her legs?

PA: Probably between '64 and '66. We use 1861-67 in the catalogue for all the photographs of that period. It's too much guesswork to assign definite dates. I believe the legs belong to two groups of images a few years apart.

CS: If she's giving her photographs titles from the ballet and theater, is that what influenced her to photograph her legs in the way a dancer's legs were photographed?

PA: You have to imagine that she knew the photographs that were being done around her, the photographs of the dancers, the models in the nude, the little actresses who were one step removed from prostitutes - the images by which these women made themselves known were an inspiration for her. There is a series of photographs where she knowingly imitated a kind of "loose" woman at the opera ball, where everybody mingled, where people would start love affairs and prostitutes would look for clients. She was independent enough to go into theaters and other places that were off-limits to women of her class. She was not the only case of a society woman exploring the fringes and looking at the "other side" - especially at women who were living off their beauty. Well-born women were fascinated by the freedom of the demimonde and the theatrical world where their fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons could go but they couldn't. The countess was exceptional in that she not only went to see what was going on there but came back and decided to make photographs of herself playing such roles. That's why the relationship with the photographer is so important. Once these documents exist, your reputation is at the mercy of whoever has them. She had to have an incredible trust in Pierson that he would not circulate them.

CS: What about the photograph of her posed as a nun?

PA: That's the only photograph of her that was sold during her lifetime - she was asked to participate in a tableau vivant for the benefit of some charity. Tableau vivant was an art form in which society people performed for society, a kind of mixed-media theater. It was much more than just striking a pose - there were sets, music, choreography. She accepted the invitation on the condition that she would be the last to appear. Nobody knew what she would do. This was in April 1863, and she had just made a splashy entrance at a court ball in February as the Queen of Emma. People bought tickets like crazy; the rumor was that she was going to appear as The Source by Ingres, meaning in the nude. She had a reputation for being the most beautiful woman of her time as well as for daring behavior. Rumors circulated that she had appeared in the nude for a privileged few, and she received anonymous letters daring her to show herself. The night comes. She was supposed to appear three times. The curtain rises and everybody is flabbergasted - here she is in the costume of a Carmelite showing only her face. People start to whistle - the whistling means of course that you don't like an actor or actress. The curtain goes down, she is furious over being taken for an actress, and she disappears - and doesn't appear again. People were outraged, because they'd paid a lot of money and didn't get what they thought they were going to get. She got them.