Portraits of a Muse: Marchesa Luisa Casati

What do the following things have in common: evening strolls with leopards, dinner parties with mannequins, live snakes as jewelry, and nude servants gilded in gold leaves? That's right -- the Marchesa Luisa Casati, arguably one of the most extraordinary and eccentric women to have ever lived!

An Italian heiress, who shocked the world during the early twentieth century, Casati was photographed, painted, written about, and loved by many...though understood by few.

In October 2009, The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse will be published internationally by Abrams (New York). This completely new, deluxe coffee-table book by Ryersson and Yaccarino will surely be the ultimate homage to the subject in words and images.

This book is officially going to the top of my Christmas list! Want to know more about the eccentric Marchesa? Check out the fabulous website dedicated to her life and exploits.

~I want to be a living work of art. ~Casati