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Price:
£59.00
Size: 30ml
Fragrance Category: Fresh
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| | Top Notes: | Bergamot, cardamom, lotus blossom, lemon peel |
| Heart Notes: | Turkish rose, redcurrant, violet |
| Base Notes: | White musk, almond blossom |
Virginia Oldoini was born to noble parents in Florence in 1837. At seventeen she entered into an arranged marriage to Count Francesco Verasis, becoming Countess of Castiglione. Fluent in four languages and possessed of a most refined education, her triumphant debut at the court of the Savoy Royal Family caught the eye of King Victor Emmanuel II who, conquered by her beauty, faultless elegance and charm, subsequently showered her with precious gifts and jewels.
It is likely that the favoured Savoy Court Perfumer, Stefano Frecceri was at that moment charged by the King with the creation of a personalised perfume for her. Without a doubt, extant fragrance formulae from the famous Genovese distiller describe a perfume studied and made on particular remit for the Countess of Castiglione, hand-notated by the master perfumer himself, and exactly reproduced for us to appreciate today. Her absolute beauty and her glamorous dress, amongst them the famous chemise de nuit, so soft and fluffy is perhaps the best context with which to appreciate this very original recipe.
Oldoini was in some ways perhaps a tragic character. At some point just after the Crimean war in 1855, she was recruited by her cousin, Count of Cavour to press Napoleon III towards the cause of Italian unification. Her January 1856 diplomatic mission to the Tuileries was a triumph. All the court was woed by her seductive powers and soon embraced her style in dress and perfume and shortly afterwards France recognised the Italian cause. Scandalously however, she became Napoleon's III's mistress, separated from her husband, and ended her days in a Paris apartment decorated in black and devoid of mirrors which would only serve to remind her of her faded, once universally feted beauty. Fortunately, the most beautiful woman in Europe once inspired one man to make for her the equally most beautiful scent. Through it her beauty lives on today.
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