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A blazing ball of energy, an icon for the ages, a woman who defied convention and circumstance, Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies - aka the Duchesse de Berry - was an Italian princess from the House of Bourbon who swept dramatically through 19th century French politics and society.
Born Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies in 1798, she married the son of King Charles X, Charles Ferdinand, Duc de Berry aged 18, but was widowed when he was assassinated four years later. Exiled at 32, she fought ceaselessly to have the rights of her son Henri V to the throne of France recognised. She finally found refuge in Italy, before dying in 1870 at Brünnsee Castle in Austria.
A colourful and unconventional woman, the Duchesse played an active role in Parisian cultural life, inspiring the curiosity of the artists who gravitated around the court of Charles X. Through her many purchases at the Salons, she and her husband supported numerous painters, with a renowned collection that was partly sold in 1822, in an auction notable for having one of the world's first illustrated catalogues.
She also had a first-rate library - one of the most admired of the period - filled with masterpieces from the golden age of French bookbinding. And the Duchesse herself served as a muse to countless painters such as Chateaubriand, Dumas and Lamartine during her life, and in the decades after her death.
Her influence reverberated down the years, landing in the heart of Hubert Guerrand-Hermès (1940-2016). A member of the famous luxury goods family, he was passionate about art in all its forms, a keen sportsman and a familiar sight in the auction houses and antiquaries of Paris.
Over the course of his life, Guerrand-Hermès amassed a unique collection, displayed in his magnificent Parisian residence, the Hôtel de Lannion. In the opulent rooms of the grand townhouse facing the Musée d’Orsay, and decorated by interior designer François-Joseph Graf, Guerrand-Hermès surrounded himself with rare books and masterpieces by some of history’s greatest cabinetmakers, Old Masters and contemporary artists. And of all his passions, the greatest and most enduring was his love and admiration for the Duchesse de Berry.
"It was the beginning of a real passion," wrote Guerrand-Hermès in the catalogue for the exhibition Entre cour et jardin, dedicated to the Duchesse and held at the Musée de l'Île de France in 2007 "And it hasn't left me since".
Over the years, Hubert Guerrand-Hermès collected works that once belonged to the Duchesse, as well as porcelain and books, trying to recreate her fantastic library in the Hôtel de Lannion.
To mark the sale of these books, in the auction Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès, Autour de la duchesse de Berry in Paris on 15 December 2023, we asked the poet, artist, model, writer and actress Greta Bellamacina to reflect on the Duchesse's legacy, her love of ceremony and beauty and the way she "turned her daily life into art".
What makes the Duchesse de Berry an exceptional figure?
I love that the Duchesse turned her daily life into art. There seems to be a sense of ceremony and appreciation of beauty in everything she did, whether it was dressing romantically, covering her walls in her paintings, or curating the furniture in her home. She was a true artist in every way. As if there was no distinction between art and living. Everything in her life was a ceremony of art.
She was a true artist in every way. Everything in her life was a ceremony of art
What do you think made her an icon of French Romanticism?
She was breaking boundaries, from her refusal to wear a corset to taking inspiration from the Gothic novels and poetry that she was reading. She really lived the words, and that truly makes her a French Romantic, she was wearing the emotions in her own life. Bringing to life a softer and stranger reality, through her puffed sleeves and feathers and jewellery. Maybe at first glance she was seen as odd, but really she was presenting a romantic version of a woman, both light and dark.
Do you find any common themes in her artistic tastes that resonate with your own?
I relate to her dedication to beauty, especially in her home. I too, spend a lot of my time endlessly researching paint for our house, travelling to European flea markets to find obscure foreign things, hanging paintings and commissioning art as presents for [Greta's husband] Robert.
I think she pioneered an independence and freedom of spirit that we still look up to today
Our house is Georgian and it was built in 1768, which is around time the Duchesse de Berry was doing the same thing. We found this house three years ago and I spend most of my spare time dreaming up ways to bring the house back to life. I want the house to feel like England and France and Italy all at the same time. It has become a love affair, so much so that we made a poetry and art book documenting the house renovation called A House Is Dance.
Do you see the Duchesse as an inspiration to 21st-century women?
I think she pioneered an independence and freedom of spirit that we still look up to today - to be future-thinking in your time, not paying attention to the small-minded opinions around you and to not give in to conformity. To be something who thinks creatively, rather than someone who judges others.
