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Authors: Andrea Di Robilant
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one of his agents, she stifled the impulse to walk in, but she could not resist dashing off a note to him as soon as she reached her apartment: “It is a cruel thing to pass by one’s husband and not be able to stop to see him and hug him…Come home quickly.” She sometimes wrote in French, perhaps to make her complaints sound more light-hearted: “I wanted to begin by scolding you but I am unable to scold my dear husband; I will only say this: my heart ached when I did not find you home, I wish to see you as soon as possible and I kiss you with all my heart.” 5 During the first months of her marriage, Lucia did not have the comfort of Paolina’s company. Memmo planned to marry his youngest daughter off to Luigi Martinengo delle Palle, scion of a well-known family from Brescia, so he left her in the care of the nuns at Celestia while he negotiated the contract. Paolina was not yet fifteen and her father worried about the risks of an early pregnancy. He felt it would be “another two years before she can give birth without danger” 6 so he pressed matters to finalise a settlement with the Martinengos while setting a later wedding date. His finances were so depleted, however, that he was forced to give away Ca’ Memmo, the venerable family
palazzo
on the Grand Canal, as part of Paolina’s dowry. He moved into the comfortable residence on Saint Mark’s Square that came with the position of procuratore di San Marco. He planned to open up the elegant
saloni
only for occasional entertainment, and live cosily in the smaller apartment on the mezzanine floor, where he now hung his large portrait, flanked by those of Lucia and Paolina, all of which had just arrived from Rome having been “excellently painted by my excellent Kauffmann.” 7 It was shaping up as a perfect cocoon for his old age.
In many ways the three Kauffmann paintings captured a family scene that already belonged to the past. Memmo was a loving, devoted father, but the future of his daughters, which had been uppermost in his mind, was less of a worry now that Lucia was married and Paolina was on the way to the altar. Indeed Memmo briefly contemplated the idea of getting married himself, with Contarina Barbarigo, a life-long friend and lover; but the two of them squabbled over the marriage arrangement and nothing came of it. So Memmo went back to his numerous lady companions. “I am still oppressed by beautiful women,” he confided to a friend with gleeful incredulity:
In lieu of a cock that is no longer as hard as I wish it to be, I have very hard fingers with which I can happily satisfy all my crazy girls…Alas they all want to fall in love with me but I don’t want to hear anyone talk to me about love or faithfulness. I’ve gone back to what I once was…I want as many women as I can have and would be bored to death if I only had one. 8
As he vigorously chased his youth, Memmo, who was nearing sixty, also kept his eye on the doge’s rapidly declining health. The idea of crowning his political career with the ducal cap flattered his vanity. “I am complimented at all times as [the doge’s] much desired successor,” he noted proudly. 9 In Lucia’s new world, however, Alvise was now the ultimate authority; and his stature, both within the Mocenigo family and outside, was growing fast. Sebastiano, his father, was still the head of the family. But he was an old man in poor health, with an unsavoury past. Alvise, on the other hand, was gaining confidence and respect among his peers. He was elected Savio di Terraferma, a political office with supervisory responsibilities on the mainland. It was a prestigious appointment for a young patrician who wanted to pursue a career in government. Alvise was also earning a reputation as an able administrator with a keen interest in the development of modern agriculture. And as the only male heir of the Mocenigo dynasty, he was already looked upon as the de facto representative of the family interests within
palazzo
on the Grand Canal, as part of Paolina’s dowry. He moved into the comfortable residence on Saint Mark’s Square that came with the position of procuratore di San Marco. He planned to open up the elegant
saloni
only for occasional entertainment, and live cosily in the smaller apartment on the mezzanine floor, where he now hung his large portrait, flanked by those of Lucia and Paolina, all of which had just arrived from Rome having been “excellently painted by my excellent Kauffmann.” 7 It was shaping up as a perfect cocoon for his old age.
In many ways the three Kauffmann paintings captured a family scene that already belonged to the past. Memmo was a loving, devoted father, but the future of his daughters, which had been uppermost in his mind, was less of a worry now that Lucia was married and Paolina was on the way to the altar. Indeed Memmo briefly contemplated the idea of getting married himself, with Contarina Barbarigo, a life-long friend and lover; but the two of them squabbled over the marriage arrangement and nothing came of it. So Memmo went back to his numerous lady companions. “I am still oppressed by beautiful women,” he confided to a friend with gleeful incredulity:
In lieu of a cock that is no longer as hard as I wish it to be, I have very hard fingers with which I can happily satisfy all my crazy girls…Alas they all want to fall in love with me but I don’t want to hear anyone talk to me about love or faithfulness. I’ve gone back to what I once was…I want as many women as I can have and would be bored to death if I only had one. 8
As he vigorously chased his youth, Memmo, who was nearing sixty, also kept his eye on the doge’s rapidly declining health. The idea of crowning his political career with the ducal cap flattered his vanity. “I am complimented at all times as [the doge’s] much desired successor,” he noted proudly. 9 In Lucia’s new world, however, Alvise was now the ultimate authority; and his stature, both within the Mocenigo family and outside, was growing fast. Sebastiano, his father, was still the head of the family. But he was an old man in poor health, with an unsavoury past. Alvise, on the other hand, was gaining confidence and respect among his peers. He was elected Savio di Terraferma, a political office with supervisory responsibilities on the mainland. It was a prestigious appointment for a young patrician who wanted to pursue a career in government. Alvise was also earning a reputation as an able administrator with a keen interest in the development of modern agriculture. And as the only male heir of the Mocenigo dynasty, he was already looked upon as the de facto representative of the family interests within
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