Marie-Louise Arconati-Visconti

Marie Louise Jeanne Peyrat (1840–1923), better known as the Marquise Arconati Visconti, was a French philanthropist, salonnière and art collector. She is remembered for donating the outstanding Italian artworks she had inherited from her husband to the Louvre, while items from her own collection of art, furniture and jewellery from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were donated principally to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Musée Carnavalet. Her salon attracted prominent politicians and academics who introduced her to Alfred Dreyfus, with whom she developed a lengthy correspondence.[1][2][3]

Marie-Louise Arconati-Visconti
Marie Arconati-Visconti (1872)

Biography

Born in Paris on 26 December 1840, Marie-Louise-Jeanne Peyrat was the daughter of the journalist and politician Alphonse Jean Peyrat (1812–1890) and his wife Marie Pauline Thérèse née Risch.[4] Her father brought her up as a dedicated Republican with an interest in literature, history and politics.[5]

As she grew older, she attended lectures at the Collège de France and at the École des Chartes where she fell in love with Giammartino Arconati Visconti who was studying painting there. Stemming from the Milan aristocracy, he was the son of the Italian politician Giuseppe Arconati Visconti (1797–1873), who had to leave his country in 1821 as a collaborator of the supposed nationalist Federico Confalonieri.[5][6] Despite objections from the Arconati family, Marie-Louise married Gianmartino in November 1873. The couple moved to Italy where Gianmartino died three years later in February 1876. As a result, she inherited a huge fortune which included not only Italian art treasures but a number of luxurious properties in Belgium, France and Italy. She settled in Paris but also spent the autumns at Gaasbeek Castle in Belgium. She used the fortune she had acquired to add to her art collection while providing support for libraries, museums and higher education institutions.[1]

While in Paris, she held a well attended salon at her villa on rue Barbet-de-Jouy. Her guests on Thursdays included progressive politicians including Jean Jaurès, Aristide Briand, Raymond Poincaré and Léon Gambetta who brought her attention to the Dreyfus case. She subsequently became a fanatical supporter of Dreyfus.[7] On Tuesday evenings, she invited art experts for dinner, one of whom, the art collector Raoul Duseigneur became a lifelong friend. [1] It was Duseigneur who advised her on the paintings, sculptures and furniture she should acquire for her collection. During her lifetime, she made numerous donations of artefacts to the museums of Paris in addition to providing financial support for libraries and educational institutions.[3]

Marie-Louise Arconati-Visconti died on 3 May 1923 in Paris,[8] leaving her remaining fortune to the University of Paris. She is buried in the cemetery of Rives, close to her companion Raoul Duseigneur who had died in 1916.[9]

References
  1. Dauvillier, Sylvie (20 January 2020). "La marquise Arconati Visconti, la belle amie des arts" (in French). Point de vue 75. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  2. D'Amato, Martina (June 2017). "A French Collection, a Collection of France: The Marquise Arconati-Visconti's Cultural Patronage during the Third Republic". Euroacademia. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  3. "Marquise Arconati Visconti, femme libre et mécène d'exception". Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  4. Mayeur, Jean-Marie; Schweitz, Arlette (2001). Les parlementaires de la Seine sous la Troisième République. Publications de la Sorbonne. pp. 469–. ISBN 978-2-85944-432-7.
  5. "Marie Peyrat, marquise Arconati Visconti" (in French). Bibliothèques de l'ENS. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  6. "Arconati Viscónti, Giuseppe, marchese" (in Italian). Treccani. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  7. "Marquise Arconati Visconti" (in French). Dictionnaire de l'affaire Dreyfus. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  8. "Une figure singulière: Marie Peyrat (1840-1873)" (in French). Nubis: Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  9. "Histoire de la Ville de Rives" (in French). Ville de Rives. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
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