Les Artois Secret [1760, The time of Casanova] 秘密的阿圖瓦 秘密のアルトワ

"Chi è capace di sentire, sa che si può provare piacere ancor prima di sfiorare l’altra persona.

Le parole, gli sguardi… racchiudono il segreto della danza”

"He who is capable of feeling, knows that one can feel pleasure even before touching the other person. Words, glances… contain the secret of dance"

Every Venetian Carnival has a theme, and the 2025 Venice Carnival's Theme is “In the time of Casanova” (“Il Tempo di Casanova” in Italian), to honor the 300th anniversary of Giacomo Casanova's birth.

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer who was born in the Republic of Venice and travelled extensively throughout Europe. He is chiefly remembered for his autobiography, written in French and published posthumously as Histoire de ma vie ("The Story of My Life"). That work has come to be regarded as a unique and provocative source of information on the customs and norms of European social life in the 18th century.

Born to a family of actors, Casanova studied law at the University of Padua and received minor orders in the Catholic Church with a view towards pursuing a career as a canon lawyer. However, he had no enthusiasm for the law or vocation for the church, and he soon abandoned those plans and launched instead upon an itinerant life as a gambler, violinist, confidence trickster, and man of letters. Throughout his life, Casanova obtained money and other advantages from various aristocratic patrons by pretending to possess alchemical, cabbalistic, and magical secret knowledge. Among other exploits, Casanova escaped from the Piombi prison, to which he had been confined by order of the Venetian Council of Ten for offenses against religion and morals, and later helped convince the authorities of the Kingdom of France to establish a state lottery as a source of revenue.

The most notorious aspect of Casanova's career are his many complicated sexual affairs with women, stretching from his early adolescence to his old age, which he described in detail in his autobiography. As a consequence of this, Casanova's name has become a byword for a male seducer and libertine, like "Lothario" or "Don Juan". He spent his final years in Bohemia, where he served as librarian to the household of Count Waldstein and resided at Dux Castle.

My Italian friends Angelo and Margherita came in their Casanova themed costumes today.

They are starring as Monsieur & Madame d'Artois...and they have named the costumes Les Artois secret [1760, The time of Casanova].

The year is 1760..., when Casanova has lost the rest of his fortune. He was yet again arrested for his debts, but managed to escape to Switzerland. Weary of his wanton life, Casanova visited the monastery of Einsiedeln and considered the simple, scholarly life of a monk. He returned to his hotel to think on the decision, only to encounter a new object of desire, and reverting to his old instincts, all thoughts of a monk's life were quickly forgotten. Moving on, he visited Albrecht von Haller and Voltaire, and arrived in Marseille, then Genoa, Florence, Rome, Naples, Modena, and Turin, moving from one sexual romp to another. In 1760, Casanova started styling himself the Chevalier de Seingalt, a name he was to use increasingly for the rest of his life. On occasion, he would also call himself Count de Farussi (using his mother's maiden name) and when Pope Clement XIII presented Casanova with the Papal Order of the Golden Spur, he had an impressive cross and ribbon to display on his chest.

Over the next few years, he found little success in his endeavours to sell his lottery scheme to other governments. His usual approach, leaning on well-placed contacts (often Freemasons), wining and dining with nobles of influence, and finally arranging an audience with the local monarch also opened little doors to him. He returned to Paris for several months in 1767 and hit the gambling salons, only to be expelled from France by order of Louis XV himself, primarily for Casanova's scam involving the Marquise d'Urfé. Subsequent adventures in Spain over the next few years as again a failure. He was finally permitted to return to Venice in September 1774 after 18 years of exile.

1760 is actually quite a messy time to be in Europe...(and actually in many parts of the world as well, with wars in Canada, Russia, Germany, Thailand, Jamaica as well....)

In 1760, France faced a critical turning point as the Seven Years' War, including the French and Indian War, saw the British capture Montreal, leading to the British military regime in New France and the eventual cession of most of its North American territories to Britain and Spain.

In 1760, Italy was a fragmented peninsula, with various independent states and territories under the control of foreign powers like Austria, Spain, and France, experiencing a period of relative demographic and economic stagnation, but also seeing the first stirrings of Enlightenment reforms.... 

Isnpiration for the costumes come from Charles Philippe, the Count of Artois - later Charles X of France. He was known as a charming, frivolous and impulsive King and before the Revolution, as a Count, he was a close friend of Marie Antoinette.

These are two very young count and countess, 1768 circa. Artois was Marie Antoinette' brother in law and one of her best friends - all when they were young and before history and the revolution changed everything.

The Count of Artois and the Coming of the French Revolution....

The Venice Carnevale is not solely about masks. Local Italians prefer historical costumes or painted faces. During Carnevale, the whole Venice becomes a real life theatrical stage, and many of these historical costumes carry deep perspectives...

And as usual, the portraits are just done on the busy streets of Venice and using natural lighting only...It is not an indoor photo studio, there is no artificial lighting, flash or reflectors...I just take my street portraiture to an all new level....