Hotel Asolo

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Caterina Corner or Cornaro was born in Venice on the 25th
November in 1454 to Sir Marco and Fiorenza Crispo. On the 31st
July 1468, via proxy, she married the King of Cyprus, Giacomo
II “il Bastardo” whom she had never met. The young bride arrived
in Cyprus in September 1472 to celebrate her official matrimony
with the 30 year old king, who had already fathered
various children. In July 1473 Caterina gave birth to their heir
Giacomo III of Lusignano, but the King passed away on the eve
of his son’s birth.
Neverending intrigues in Venice. “La Serenissima” took hold of
the island, but waited 16 years for total control.
Caterina’s brief rule (1489-1509) brought fame to the city. Her
court was quite small, hence she purchased a large rural house
in which she added a “loggia” and a church but she constantly
thought about Cyprus. In 1500 Caterina was tired so she entrusted
the task of completing the work of the “barca” to her brother
Giorgio.
Many came to Asolo to see the Queen of Cyprus but she fleed to
Venice after the invasion of Massimiliano of Austria in 1509.
Paolina Borghese, born Bonaparte, Napoleon’s most loved sister,
married at the young age of 17 in 1797; soon widow and in
1803 remarried Camillo Borghese, to whom she soon separated.
She was restless, a lover of pomp and pleasure and many talked
about her because of her misleading behaviour. She was naughty
but endowed with great beauty, hence famous inspiring muse
for the Venere Vincitrice by Antonio Canova, (1757-1822) the
famous artist from Possagno, not far from Ca’ Falier, where he
first started his artistic talent.
The sculptural piece expresses the ideal for the love of nature,
transformed into beauty: Paolina is holding an apple, referring
to Paride’s reference to beauty.
The wooden base, draped like a catafalque, originally had a
mechanism which allowed the sculpture to rotate, like Canova’s
other of pieces of art, like Paride today in the “Sala della Ragione”
in the museum in Asolo.
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