Luisa Casati

Luisa Casati was an Italian aristocrat, patron and society figure who turned herself into a deliberately theatrical work of art. She commissioned portraits, staged extravagant performances and moved through pre-war and interwar European artistic circles before reckless spending left her impoverished.

In Tracy Chevalier’s The Glassmaker, her beads reach figures including Joséphine de Beauharnais and Luisa Casati.