#Countess Barbara Dmitrievna Rimskaya-Korsakova

[cinematic-phosphenes]

Countess Barbara Dmitrievna Rimskaya-Korsakova | 1864 Franz Xaver Winterhalter

[emvidal]

Madame Rimsky Korsakov by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805 - 1873) in 1864

About the lady:

Varvara Dmitrievna “Barbe” Mergasova Rimsky-Korsakov (1833-1878)

Countess Barbara Dmitrievna Rimskaya-Korsakova (often also referred to as Rimsky-Korsakov), nee Mergasova (Мергасова), was a great beauty in the nineteenth century. Her celebrated oil portrait by Franz Xaver Winterhalter hangs at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris. Another portrait of her by the same painter is in the Savitsky Gallery, Penza. She inspired other artistic works also. The evergreen melody, titled "Souvenir de Biarritz", was composed for her by Emile Waldteufel. This notable lady was born into a wealthy family in Kostroma, Russia. She had married young to Nikolai Sergeyevich Rimsky-Korsakov, an ambitious military officer. They had three sons. The couple were stars at lavish balls and dances, but the marriage was not strong however. The countess eventually moved to France. In the era of the Second French Empire, in fashionable Paris, Biarritz and Nice, she came to be known as "La Venus Tartare" that is "The Tartar Venus", on account of her exotic beauty. She died in Nice, her final home, at the young age of forty-five.