Every so often while walking around Parma I come across signs entitled “The City of Women.”
This plaque stands in front of a building that housed a women’s union formed by former partisans after the World War II to encourage women to enter politics. It’s great to see this acknowledgement of women’s role in the political process.
I visit the Museo Glauco Lombardi, a very interesting museum focusing on Maria Luigia, the second wife of Napoleon, who became the Duchess of Parma in 1815 and ruled until her death in 1847. Each little silver sparkle on this dress was hand sewn.
Maria Luigia was the daughter of the last Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, who forced her to marry Napoleon at a young age when Napoleon’s first wife Josephine did not produce an heir.
But when Napoleon was exiled to Elba, Maria Luigia’s meddling father engaged Adam Albert, Count von Neipperg to prevent Maria Luigia from going to Elba. Neipperg is quoted as saying: “”In six weeks, I will be her best friend and in six months her lover”.
It didn’t take that long for this dashing one-eyed officer to win Maria Luigia’s heart. It must have been the curls.
Maria Luigia had bracelets made using images of Neipperg’s face and his one good eye.
Maria Luigia was quite the woman. She is responsible for construction of a vast number of bridges and buildings that still complement Parma and the countryside.
She also traveled extensively and kept travel journals. These pages show her meticulous handwriting, small and precise. Nary a blot on the page.
Maria Luigia traveled with a medical kit.
She suffered from migraines. These fragments were taken from her skull by her physician while she was alive! There’s no indication that it helped.
Maria Luigia was talented in numerous areas. She herself knit this little bag in stitches almost too small to see.
She painted watercolors,
And created images of her travels.
She also (she herself) embroidered this wall-sized tablecloth. All by herself? So they say.
This incredibly gifted woman is an enigma to me. How did she manage to do all that she did? Rule Parma and Piacenza, direct construction of public works, embroider enormous tablecloths, travel, keep a meticulous travel journal, paint watercolor scenes of her travels, knit, petitpoint and all the rest. (And keep her husband Neipperg happy (they finally married and had two children that survived).)
What was it about her life that allowed her that creativity? Certainly being the Duchess of Parma must have helped, but it also could have been a hindrance due to regal obligations.
Today this tablecloth (about 5ft x 4ft) would take at least a couple of years to completely embroider. How many years did it take Maria Luigia in her spare time? Where does all the time go?
I wander a bit more around Parma and come across the University of Parma and a bridge that was built in the age of Augustus (about 187 A.C.) Once the river flowed through here, but a flood in 1177 diverted the it. Now it is an underpass of the University of Parma.
Here is the river today. I find it hard to find the water.
Tomorrow I’m off to Piacenza.