'She is fatal to any man who dares to love her' Alexandre Dumas, pere.
Nella sua vita sostenne di essere la figlia illegittima di Lord Byron, figlia di un grande di Spagna rapita dagli zingari, ed altro ancora, ma la realtà era molto più semplice e meno romanzesca.Lola era nata Maria Eliza Dolores Rosanna Gilbert il 16 febbraio 1821 nelle campagne della verde Irlanda ( anche se alcuni biografi sostengono che la sua nascita risale al 1818, la ricerca indica che il 1821 corrisponde alla data di nascita corretta ) ed essendo il padre un militare presto si trovò a vivere la propria infanzia a Calcutta, in India.Contratta una forma letale di colera, il padre Edward morì quasi subito lasciando la moglie vedova, la quale si risposò l'anno dopo ed inviò la figlia a completare la propria educazione e la propria formazione culturale in Gran Bretagna, come spesso allora accadeva, presso alcuni lontani parenti del nuovo marito. Nel 1837 la madre la raggiunse a Bath, dove Eliza era stata condotta per studiare, con l'intenzione di darla in moglie ad un anziano giudice della Corte Suprema Indiana, Sir Abraham Lumley, ma ella, in previsione di tale matrimonio ( lei aveva appena compiuti 16 anni, il giudice ne aveva 60 !), preferì fuggire con il Lt. Thomas James, che aveva accompagnato sua madre dall'India a Bath e che la corteggiava; i due si sposarono, ma nel 1842 fu abbandonata dal marito per un'altra donna e fu allora che decise di intraprendere la carriera di ballerina; il suo debutto londinese nel giugno 1843 come "Lola Montez, la ballerina spagnola" fu rovinato quando venne riconosciuta come la signora James, ma l'improvvisa ed immensa notorietà che ne seguì non pregiudicò la sua carriera, ed ella divenne presto famosa a livello europeo sia per la particolare danza da lei creata, La danza della tarantola, sia per la sua espressione "Qualsiasi cosa Lola voglia, la ottiene".
Era il nome di George Sand lo pseudonimo di Amantine (o Amandine) Aurore Lucile Dupin, scrittrice di origine parigina che non solo aveva scelto di scrivere con un nome maschile, ma che spesso da uomo si abbigliava: all'epoca, lo scrivere scegliendo un 'nom de plume' maschile era una scelta piuttosto comune dettata dalla diffidenza che il pubblico medio provava nei confronti di una donna, pregiudizialmente ritenuta, proprio in quanto tale, artista di qualità deteriore; quanto al vestirsi da uomo, oltre ad essere più economico, come ella stessa confesserà nelle sue Memorie, era anche un modo per poter frequentare luoghi allora interdetti alle donne e per manifestare la propria volontà di indipendenza da ogni pregiudizio e il rifiuto del conformismo in nome della libertà dello spirito ( pensate che insieme con George Lola si vestirà da uomo ed andrà per le strade della città di Parigi fumando il sigaro !).
Ludwig I, Porträt von Joseph Karl Stieler, 1825
Nel 1846 Lola approdò a Monaco, dove chiese di essere presentata al re di Baviera, Ludwig I grande mecenate ed esteta, amante di arte, musica e poesia capace di trasformare Monaco nella capitale europea della cultura, realizzando la Königsplatz, l'ampia Ludwigstraße con la Ludwigkirche, il Siegestor (arco della pace) e altri importanti edifici, quali le pinacoteche che rendevano celebri opere d'arte fruibili anche ai cittadini, spostando da Landshut a Monaco l'Università trasformando radicalmente l'immagine e ridisegnando integralmente la capitale bavarese. Il re allora aveva 62 anni ed era da poco stato abbandonato dalla moglie che dopo avergli dato otto figli si era ritirata in convento ed, ammaliato dalla giovane dall'aria e dal nome esotico,
quasi come vittima di un incantesimo, cedette alle sue lusinghe e mai le negò nulla: il loro primo incontro si rivelò un successo e a Lola si aprirono le porte anche dei teatri di Monaco: alla sua prima apparizione il pubblico le riservò una tiepida accoglienza, mentre il re, sempre più conturbato da questa donna bellissima, le dona una elegante villa in stile pompeiano vicino alla Karolinenplatz che diventa la sua residenza ed ordina immediatamente di farle un ritratto da aggiungere a quelli già presenti nella galleria delle bellezze creata a Schloß Schleißheim, la residenza ufficiale del sovrano situata alle porte di Monaco ( i 36 dipinti che compongono l'intera collezione sono ora esposti presso Schloß Nymphenburg )
Lola Montez, Porträt von Joseph Karl Stieler in der Schönheitengalerie in Schloss Nymphenburg
"Posate il vostro sguardo su questo volto,Esaminatene ogni caratteristica e proporzione,E con me non potrete negare la ricercatezza della sue fattezze.La Natura giammai disperando di crearne uno simile,Frenò di colpo lo stampo con cui esso fu forgiato;Tuttavia, al fine di assecondare la vostra pietà, e ricorrendoAl vostro rigido senso del giusto, va detto che questa bella apparenzaAltro non era che la copertina di una mente ancor più bella".MASSINGER'S Parliament of Love, 1
i nobili, la borghesia, il popolo tutto non riconosce più il proprio re, fino ad allora esempio di correttezza e serietà, ora intento solo a rivestire la propria amata di gioielli preziosi e a donarle abiti importanti ... con lei si confida persino in merito ad affari di stato e alla politica, non può fare a meno di averla sempre al proprio fianco e giunge a nominarla contessa di Landsfeld il 25 agosto del 1847, il giorno del suo genetliaco, e dama dell'Ordine di Santa Teresa, onore riservato solo alle nobildonne di sangue blu.
E' il 30 marzo 1848 quando il re cede il trono al figlio Massimiliano per continuare a vivere nell'ombra per tutta la durata di questo regno e per parte di quello del nipote Ludwig II.
Il re amava davvero Lola e pur avendo realizzato che questa sua relazione gli era valsa il trono, egli continuò a scriverle per tre anni, e ad inviarle un assegno annuo di 70.000 gulden ( il gulden era il fiorino bavarese ), fino a quando si fu del tutto persuaso del fatto che ella si era costruita una nuova vita ... continuando ad esercitare quella che ella stessa ebbe a definire l' "ARTE DELL'AMMALIARE ". 2
Le favole, quelle vere, hanno sempre un lieto fine, mentre la storia dell'amore tra Lola Montez e re Ludwig I di Baviera si conclude in modo infelice, ma sembra quasi l'esempio di quanto fosse straordinario il secolo XIX .... pensare che una ragazza di campagna di umili origini sia giunta a provocare l'abdicazione di un re ha davvero dell'inverosimile !
Vi abbraccio, miei cari amici, augurandovi ogni bene e ringraziandovi di cuore.
A presto ♥
Bibliografia:
Bruce Seymour, Lola Montez: A Life,Yale University Press, 1996
Lola Montez, The arts of beauty; or, Secrets of a lady's toilet (1858), Dick & Fitzgerald, New York
https://archive.org/details/artsbeautyorsec00montgoogCitazioni:1 - Lola Montez, The arts of beauty; or, Secrets of a lady's toilet (1858), Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, CHAPTER I - FEMALE BEAUTY, pag. 19
2 - Ivi, pag. 101
Lola Montez, the Queen of Bavaria who was never crowned.
Among her lovers there were famous names such as that of Franz Liszt, Alexandre Dumas fils and that of the Bavarian King Ludwig I, she was an actress, a writer, she held conferences appealing, but she was above all the most popular Spanish dancer in the world and probably since then she is still today ... Her name?
Lola Montez
- picture 1 -
' She is fatal to any man who dares to love her'
Alexandre Dumas, pere.
In her life she claimed to be the illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron, the daughter of a Spanish aristocrat kidnapped by gypsies, and even more, but the reality was much simpler and less romance-like.
Lola was born Maria Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert on February 16th, 1821 in the green countryside of Ireland (although some biographers claim that her birth dates back to 1818, the research indicates that 1821 corresponds to the correct date ) and being her father in the army she soon found herself living her childhood in Calcutta, India.
Contracted a deadly form of cholera, her father Edward died almost immediately, leaving his wife a widow, who married the following year and sent her daughter to complete her cultural education in Britain, as so often at that time happened, by some distant relatives of her new husband.
In 1837, her mother joined her in Bath, where Eliza was conducted to study, with the intention to marry her to a senior judge of the Supreme Court of India, Sir Abraham Lumley, but she, in anticipation of such a marriage (she was just 16, the judge 60 ! ), preferred to flee with Lt Thomas James, who had accompanied her mother to Bath from India and was courting her; the two got married, but in 1842 she was abandoned by her husband for another woman and it was then that she decided to pursue a career as a dancer: her debut in London on June 1843 as "Lola Montez, the Spanish dancer" was ruined when she was recognized as Mrs. James, but the sudden and immense fame that followed it didn't compromise her career, and she soon became famous all over Europe both for the particular dance she created, 'The spider dance' and for her expression "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets it."
- picture 2 on the left - In fact it was said that Lola wasn't a very capable dancer, as didn't has a good sense of rhythm, but this 'flaw' made up for by a strong sense of dramaticity.
Her costume consisted of a very dark black lace dress, for better highlight her beautiful face, her ivory complexion and her eyes of an almost startling blue, framed by lustrous dark hair, and a decoration of red roses.
The name of her dance comes from the fact that she moved as if she had to find on her body the spider in question, hence the increasingly rapid pace and, inevitably, the prominence of the movement of her gown that would have shown most of her legs in an era in which people kept covered even the legs of the piano.
The secret of her success was perhaps this, her shamelessness that led her to become a famous adventurer and to have many lovers, including some famous names such as Alexandre Dumas, Alexandre Dujarier and Franz Liszt, who introduced her to the circle of George Sand, one of the most sophisticated of European society.
- picture 3
It was the name of George Sand the pseudonym of Amantine (or Amandine) Aurore Lucile Dupin, author of Parisian origin who not only had chosen to write with a male name, but often dressed male clothing: at that time, to write by choosing a male 'nom de plume' was a rather common choice dictated by the suspicion that the average audience felt towards a woman, prejudicially considered just as an artist of inferior quality; how to dress as a man, as well as being cheaper, as she herself confessed in her Memoirs, it was also a way to be able to attend places then barred to women and to express her desire for independence from prejudice and the rejection of conformity in the name of the freedom of the spirit ( you have to know that along with George, Lola dressed herself with male clothing and go through the streets of the city of Paris smoking cigars ! ).
- picture 4 - Ludwig I, Porträt von Joseph Karl Stieler, 1825
In 1846 Lola arrived in Monaco, where she asked to be presented to the king of Bavaria, Ludwig I, great patron and esthete, lover of art, music and poetry, ableto transform Monaco in the European capital of culture, realizing the Königsplatz, the wide Ludwigstraße with the Ludwigkirche, the Siegestor (Arch of Peace) and other important buildings, such as the Art Galleries that made famous works of art accessible to citizens, moving to Monaco from Landshut the University, radically transforming in this way the image and completely redesigning the Bavarian capital.
The king was then 62 years and had recently been abandoned by his wife who, after giving him eight children, had retired to a convent, and, charmed by the young-looking and fascinating girl with the exotic name,
- picture 5
as if under a spell, succumbed to her flattery and never denied her anything; their first meeting was a true success and all the theaters of Monaco opened their doors to Lola: during her first appearance the public reserved her a lukedwarm welcome, while the king, more and more enchanted by this beautiful woman, gives her as a gift an elegant villa in Pompeian style near the Karolinenplatz which became her residence and immediately orders to Stieler her portrait to be added to those already present in the gallery of the beauties created in Schloß Schleißheim, the official residence of the king at the gates of Monaco ( the 36 paintings composing thecollection are now exposed at Schloß Nymphenburg )
- picture 6 - Lola Montez, Porträt von Joseph Karl Stieler in der Schönheitengalerie now in Schloß Nymphenburg
"Look upon this face,Examine every feature and proportion,And you with me must grant this rare piece finish'd.Nature despairing e'er to make the like,Brake suddenly the mould in which 'twas fashion'd;Yet, to increase your pity, and call onYour justice with severity, this fair outsideWas but the cover of a fairer mind."MASSINGER'S Parliament of Love, 1
the nobility, the bourgeoisie, all the people around weren't able to recognizes their own king, until then an example of honesty and seriousness, now intent only to dress her beloved with precious jewels and important clothes ... she became important even in state affairs and politics, the king askes for her suggestions, always has her at his side and comes to name her Countess of Landsfeld on August 25th, 1847, the day of his birthday, and dame of the Order of Santa Teresa, an honor reserved for noble women of blue blood only.
- picture 7 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Porträt von Joseph Karl Stieler, 1841
The situation becomes increasingly tense when Lola convinces the king to enter upon a more progressive policy, reversing definitely the bureaucracy by removing the conservatism of the Jesuits, which until then had been at the helm of the government and had full powers, the king was forced to abdicate and Lola had to flee to Switzerland, then to London and finally to America where she'll continue her career as a dancer .... and 'adventuress' .. or courtesan.
It was March 30th, 1848 when the king gives his throne to his son Maximilian to continue to live in the shadows for the duration of his whole reign, and for part of that of his grandson Ludwig II.
The king really loved Lola and although realizing that this love affair earned him his throne, he continued to write her for three years, and to send her an annual allowance of 70,000 gulden (the gulden was the Bavarian florin ), until he was fully convinced of the fact that she had built herself a new life... going on practising what she herself had to define the " ART OF FASCINATING " 2
- picture 8
Fairy tales, the real ones, always have a happy ending, but the story of the love between Lola Montez and King Ludwig I of Bavaria ends in an unfortunate way, but it almost seems an example of how extraordinary the nineteenth century was .... to think that a country girl with humble origins has come to lead to the abdication of a king is really unbelivable !
I embrace you, my dear friends, wishing you all the best and I thank you with all my heart.
See you soon ♥
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