Annetta
Apartment Annetta measures around 83 m2 and is located at the west side of Spino Secco. As soon as we brought in the antique chest with its painted flowers, the apartment felt like home. The leather armchair, the huge soft toned rug and the new couch make the living room extremely comfortable. You dine at an antique table with seven vintage chairs around it.
The kitchen has all the necessities for cooking including pots, pans, tableware, oven, stove, refrigerator & dishwasher. Dishes, pots, pans, cutlery, wine glasses, coffee maker & coffee cups etc. are provided.
Annetta has two spacious bedrooms and one shared bath (with a shower, bidet, commode & sink). The master bedroom has a queen-sized bed, the other room two single beds. In the latter, there is the possibility to place a third single bed. The couch in this room is a pull-out and can turn into a double bed as well.
Gallery
The Back Story
Who was Annetta?
Marquise Annetta Malaspina (1727-1797) with her ‘shiny black eyes’ enjoyed a cultural and relatively liberal life. The upper class was quite reformist in the wake of the Enlightenment and egalitarianism between men and women was discussed in literature salons. Annetta’s parents were both Malaspina’s. Her mother is from Podenzano, her father from Mulazzo. She might never have set foot in Mulazzo, but she owned the palazzo after her father’s death. One source mentions however that she came to Mulazzo to die. That was after an adventurous life. In 1751 she married yet another Malaspina, Marquis Giovanni Malaspina Della Bastia (Licciana Nardi). These marriages were merely contracts to enlarge the family assets.
Annetta organized a literary salon that was frequented by the flowers of high society, aristocrats, poets and artists. And, with the consent of her husband, she had lovers like the famous French reformist politician Marquise Guillaume du Tillot, who held court in Parma.
In 1765 she was sent on a diplomatic mission in favor of the catholic Jesuits. Her mission: winning the love of King Louis XV. Louis’s other famous mistress, Madame de Pompadour, didn’t like the Jesuits and tried to keep Annetta away from the king. Nevertheless, Annetta and the King saw each other at least two times in private. In 1769 she was sent away from the court with a yearly income of 24.000 francs and servants. When Du Tillot fell from grace with the king, Annetta’s name was also smeared. She was accused of scandalous excesses. That’s why she might have come home to Mulazzo for her last goodbye.