Giustiniana Wynne

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Alvise Giovanni Mocenigo - Wikipedia
Alvise IV Mocenigo. Casanova first met Giustiniana in 1752, in the house of the Venetian Ambassador to Paris, Alvise Mocenigo, who was later to become Doge. The Wynne family were returning to Venice from London having settled their father’s estate.
Marcantonio Memmo - Wikipedia
Doge Marcantonio Memmo. In contrast to the rather dubious lineage of Giustiniana, Andrea Memmo, born 29th March, 1729, was of a far purer breed. Although not particularly rich, the Memmo family were part of a ruling elite, one of the twenty-four so-called apostolic families who were counted amongst the original founders of the Venetian Republic.
Redefining Beauty Videos: Giustiniana Wynne
One of the various adventures in which Casanova embroiled himself during his second stint in Paris involved Giustiniana Wynne, the female half of an extraordinary eighteenth-century love story (the other half being Andrea Memmo).
Matteo Bragadin - Wikipedia
Palazzo Bragadin. Returning from Paris also in 1752 Casanova befriended Andrea Memmo and his two brothers. In 1746 Casanova had hit it lucky. He had saved the life of an influential Venetian senator called Matteo Bragadin who believed his rescuer possessed occult powers. At the time, Casanova’s life was rather squalid and feckless. Now it was transformed as Bragadin and his equally gullible friends showered him with money and gifts and gave him entry to elite society.
Andrea Memmo - Wikipedia
Andrea Memmo statue in Padua. It’s a fascinating drama. On the purely human level anyone who has experienced romantic love with all the doubts, exhilaration, despair and frustrations it entails can relate to the whirlwind of emotions on display in the numerous letters that shuttled between the two lovers across Venice, Paris and London.
The School for Scandal
The School for Scandal (1777). Moreover, their letters give us a direct insight into the daily lives and preoccupations of the denizens of polite society, the centrality of status, honour and reputation and, in particular, the vulnerability of women who were deemed not to conform to socially accepted norms.
Casanova and the affair of Giustiniana Wynne
From the perspective of Casanovan scholars, the extensive correspondence between Giustiniana and Andrea, who were both friends of Casanova, allows them the opportunity to assess the accuracy of his memoirs. In the case of Giustiniana Wynne, Casanova’s descriptions of events closely align with her own, which is pretty remarkable given that Giustiniana’s letters were contemporaneous and Casanova was putting together Histoire de ma vie (The Story of my life) three decades later.
Andrea’s uncle, also called Andrea, had been Ambassador to Constantinople early in the century and had served Venice with great distinction. He was the family patriarch and it was anticipated that his nephew would be his successor. Andrea himself was a highly educated and cultured young man, fully accepting of his position in the community and the expectations placed upon him, including a future career in some capacity as one of the leaders of the state.
Il Piombi
The Venetian authorities, ever jealous of the standing of the ruling families, paid informants to keep an eye on Casanova and over the next few years the Inquisition files that recorded his various indiscretions grew and grew. Andrea’s mother, Lucia, was also concerned. Convinced that he would corrupt her sons, she communicated her fears to the Inquisition, further adding to the case against him. Eventually they decided to act and, in July 1755, Casanova was sent to prison.
A journey into eighteenth-century Venice
Palazzo Balbi (photo Didier Descouens) Consul Smith was a foreign resident who had lived almost his entire adult life in Venice and owned the magnificent Palazzo Balbi which he’d had redesigned in the style of Palladio. Palazzo Balbi was very much a cultural hub and one of the few places that Mrs Anna risked allowing her children to visit, acutely aware as she was of the reputational damage that could arise if her daughters socialised too freely.
Bookplate for Joseph Smith, British Consul at Venice - Anonymous
Bookplate for Joseph Smith, British Consul at Venice. Central to the blossoming of the pair’s romance was the wealthy English merchant and voracious collector and dealer Consul Joseph Smith (for several years he had been the agent for Canaletto). He had been a friend of Sir Richard Wynne, knew the family well and helped them out after his death. At this time, he was in his late seventies.
PALLADIO, Andrea (1508-1580). I quattro libri dell' architettura. Venice: Domenico de' Franceschi, 1570 [but Venice: Pasquali, c.1767]. | Christie's
Book by Palladio owned by Consul Smith. Now it so happened that Andrea was a near neighbour and particularly good friend of Consul Smith, frequently visiting Palazzo Balbi where he made use of Smith’s extensive library as well as studying his vast collection of paintings and sculptures. The Consul himself was childless and had developed a genuine affection for Andrea who became the elderly collector’s confidant and assistant.
Casanova and the affair of Giustiniana Wynne
'Wheel of Fortune' by Kev Butters, artist of 'Casanova in Paris: The Shadows of the King' - an online graphic novel created by Kev Butters and Dave Thompson.
The Grand Tour
The Grand Tour. Giustiniana Wynne was the eldest of three sisters and two brothers, born 21st January, 1737, the daughter of an English baronet, Sir Richard Wynne. Prompted by the death of his wife, in 1735 Sir Richard left England and toured Europe, never to return. In Venice he met and married Anna Gazzini, a beautiful twenty-two-year-old Venetian courtesan of Greek descent with whom he fathered Giustiniana and her four siblings. In 1751, Sir Richard Wynne died.
Canaletto Grand Canal from Palazzo Flangini. Venice was a tolerant society in comparison to much of the rest of Catholic Europe but its traditions and institutions of government were deeply conservative. The lives of Venetian noblemen such as Andrea Memmo were closely supervised and regulated. The constitution of the Serenissima as it evolved from the eleventh century enabled it to survive pretty much unscathed until the intervention of Napoleon in 1797.