Francesca Lechi
Francesca Lechi | |
|---|---|
| File:Francesca Ghirardi Lechi (1773–1806) MET ep26.168.33.R.jpg Portrait of Lechi by Giovanni Battista Gigola. held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art | |
| Born | 1773 |
| Died | 1806 (aged 33) |
| Other names | Fanni |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse | Francesco Ghirardi (m. 1793) |
| Children | 1 |
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Francesca Ghirardi Lechi (1773–1806) was an Italian revolutionary and figure in Milanese society. She was nicknamed "Fanni."
Early life
[edit | edit source]Lechi was born in Brescia, Lombardy and was a member of the noble Lechi family. She was the daughter of Count Faustino Lechi of Brescia and Countess Doralice Bielli and had five brothers: General Giuseppe Lechi (1766–1836), Angelo Lechi (1769–1850), Bernardino Lechi (1775–1869), General Teodoro Lechi (1778–1866) and Luigi Lechi (1786–1867).[1]
Lechi was educated at the College of Salò, then at Collegio Castiglioni Brugnatelli in Pavia.[1]
Career
[edit | edit source]Lechi took part in revolutionary activity in Brescia.[1] On 16 March 1797, she purchased silks in white, red and green from three different shops in order to avoid suspicion, to use as material for a tricolour flag.[2] The flag was to be hoisted in Broletto by her brother Giuseppe during the Brescian revolution,[3] activity which lead to the creation of the Republic of Brescia, a temporary French client republic, on 18 March 1797.[4] This symbol of Italian unification later became the tricolour flag of Italy.
Lechi moved with her husband to Milan, where she became a society figure and loved to dress as an Amazon warrior or her literary heroes at balls.[3]
Lechi met Joachim Murat, Napoleon Bonaparte's right-hand man and the first King of Naples of the House of Murat, at a ball in Milan.[3] She became his mistress,[1][5] and followed him to Paris before returning to her husband.[3]
In 1801, she met the realist writer Stendhal in Milan. Stendhal described her in his book Vie de Napoléon as:[1][6]
French: "La comtesse Gherardi, fille du comte Lecchi, avait peut-être les plus beaux yeux de Brescia, le pays de beaux yeux"
Translation: "La Comtesse Gherardi, daughter of Comte Lecchi, has the most beautiful eyes of Brescia, the place of beautiful eyes"
Lechi died in 1806.[1] The date and place of her burial are unknown.[3]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Lechi ran away from home to marry Francesco Ghirardi, a lawyer from the Republic of Venice, on 21 August 1793.[1] He was a family friend and twenty years her senior.[3] They had a daughter named Carolina.[7]
Representations
[edit | edit source]A miniature portrait of Lechi on ivory, by Giovanni Battista Gigola, which shows her her bare-breasted in a provocative pose, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.[7]
An oil painting of Lechi with her daughter Carolina was painted c. 1800–1801.[8]
References
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- ^ a b c d e f Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Da Como, Ugo (1926). La Repubblica Bresciana (in Italian). Bologna: Zanichelli.
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