Brandolini Family Portrait
by Horst
There are interiors that stay with you. Some give little reason to change. Perfection- it leaves nothing to be desired. Such is the case in the rooms of VISTORTA di SACILE that Renzo Mongiardino decorated for Conte and Contessa Brando Brandolini d'Adda. Horst photographed VISTORTA -the restored the family's 1830 estate outside Venice more than forty years ago for Vogue. In the article Conte Brando Brandolini said " I tried to capture the atmosphere of a country house in a story by Turgenev." Here with portraits from the period by Madame Vigee Le Brun.
THE LIBRARY
trompe l'oeil Biedermeier bookcases, green felt panels framed in floral braid
Charles X
Countess Anna Ivanova Tolstoy, 1801
The Contessa, Cristiana, beauty, socialite, sister of Gianni Agnelli, is mother in law to designer Muriel Brandolini. Muriel comments of the collaboration between the Contessa and Mongiardino-"He was really at his best when he was working with my mother in law." She has been much inspired by the decorations of the pair.
the Countess Brandolini, by Horst
“Time sometimes flies like a bird,
sometimes crawls like a snail;
but a man is happiest
when he does not even notice whether it passes swiftly or slowly.
Turgenev
THE DRAWING ROOM
sunlit lacquered walls, festooned curtain in the 19th c. style, emerald & gold Savonnerie
THE WINTER GARDEN
Princess Edcocia Ivanovna Galitzine, 1799
Mongiardino at his best, Window design copied from Josephine's Malmaison
the fabric copied from a piece of Indian cotton on sofas, cushions & shades
THE CONTESSA BRANDOLINI'S BEDROOM
Marquise de Fresnes d'Aguesseau, 1789
Evoking the 19th century
White cotton pique curtains with deep tasseled trimmings, tiered, festooned, shaded & swagged
Muriel Brandolini Interior Design here
Le Brun portraits here
& from the pages of Vogue
.
