Count Emile Targhetta D'Audiffret_1979_OM2

This wonderful man is Count Emile Targhetta D'Audiffret, the last Casanova, who died 2008.

He was '' Le roi du Carnaval ''. The Count opened his palazzo on the Fondamenta Nuove for evenings of masquerade, dancing parties, and follies during the Carnival.

 

1979 I had the great luck to meet him and to take a shot of him. But read something about him:

 

From "National Geopraphic", written by Mimi Murphy:

""The ethereal timelessness of Venice makes it a unique venue for the magic and transformation of Carnevale. "The difference is that in any other place, you are in costume. Here, it is part of life," says Count Emile Targhetta d'Audiffret, a Venice luminary who opens his 17th-century palazzo for concerts and soirees during Carnevale. The count owns 50 extraordinarily detailed historical costumes and changes character three times a day. But he does not simply dress up; he plays the part."

 

"The important thing is to make the costume live," he says with conviction. "If I'm wearing my Louis XIV, I walk with my toes pointed outward." The count demonstrates with dramatic flair. "Henry II would never walk that way. You see it in the paintings." Several times a day Count Emile walks the back alleys from his palazzo on the Fondamenta Nuove to Caffé Florian on Piazza San Marco, relishing the comments of the people he passes. "You can have masked festivities anywhere," he says. "Here, it's the streets that count.""

 

www.venise-serenissime.com/home/lieux_prestige/palais_pri...

 

Gear info:

Olympus OM-2

film: Fuji 100

Location: Piazza San Marco / Venice / Italy

 

Please view on flickriver:

www.flickriver.com/photos/105795038@N03/

It looks better :-)

Done