After an excellent education, she married the Duke of Mantua, and started collecting paintings, most commissioned in great detail for her private study.
Costa
With Umberto Eco as our guide, explore Parnassus, the Garden of Earthly Delights, Alcina’s island, Colchis, and the Garden of the Hesperides.
Dividing his life between New York and Rome, by 1870 he was painting Symbolist masterpieces and superb landscapes in Italy.
Her legends are confusing, but make no significant mention of music. So how did she become patron saint of music and musicians?
Claimed to have had a constellation of major artists paint for her, what is the truth?What impact did she have on the Renaissance?
There are several uncanny parallels with the Impressionists, including the importance of the tache and plein air painting, early critical hostility followed later by acceptance, and of course the tragic deaths of Sernesi and Bazille in war.
The Eclectic Light Company 