Prince Paul P. Demidoff,
2nd Prince of San Donato
(1839-1885)
Jpg:
Alexandre G. Tissot Demidoff
From : Alexandre Tissot Demidoff
Paul became the 2nd Prince of San
Donato with his princely title recognised in Russia for the first time
by Alexandre II. The young couple moved to Villa di San Donato after a
honeymoon in Florence. However, the death of his young and beautiful wife,
Maria Metscherskii, during childbirth to their son Elim P. Demidoff (whom
lived) left Paul in prolonged and deep grief. It is said that he would
visit the storage area in Villa di San
Donato that contained Maria's dresses to be close to her presence.
Understandably, Prince Paul's second wife, Helene Petrovna nee Troubetzkoii,
and the subject of the painting by John Singer Sargent [thumbnail], believed
that living in Villa di San Donato was ruining Paul's health from the painful
memories associated with his first wife. They moved to the The
Villa Pratolino were they took residence
The couple decided to sell the Villa
di San Donato and a large portion of its collections. On 5 November
1881 the palace of Villa di San Donato was sold to Gastone Mestayer with
the grounds sold separately to Nemesio Papucci and Rosselli Del Turco.
The sale of the Villa also included
the auction of numerous collections of Count Nicholas, Anatole, and Prince
Paul, himself, that lasted six weeks with the proceedings accompanied by
classical sounds from three orchestras. The sales included the contents
of Anatole's museum in Elba dedicated to Napoleon that primarily was assembled
with the aid of Anatole's father in law, King Jerome Bonaparte. The final
major sale of the collections of the Demidoffs of San Donato took place
in 1969 in Pratolino, Italy.
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