The history of the mysterious mirror by Benvenuto Cellini dates back to the 16th century. The mirror gave youth and beauty to its owners and punished those who wanted to dishonestly take possession of it. It has been traveling the world for five centuries. During this time, the mirror has changed many housewives. Nobody knows who it will get to now.
First mistress
Benvenuto Cellini created a mirror for Diana de Poitiers, the most beautiful woman at the court of Francis I. This woman amazed men with her beauty. Neither Cellini, nor the king of France, and later his son, could not resist her.
Cellini once witnessed a scene. Diane de Poitiers, noticing several wrinkles in the reflection, broke a huge Venetian mirror. It should be noted that at that time the beauty was already about forty years old. The master created a mirror for her from a shattered shard. I enclosed it in a modest stone wood frame.
Diana accepted the gift. Her beauty shone with renewed vigor. She soon became the favorite of Henry II. After the death of the king, the beauty was exiled to one of the estates, where she ended her life.
As for the mirror, it was kept in the royal treasury before the revolution. According to rumors, the mirror came to Marie Antoinette. But it did not stay with her for long and after her execution it disappeared.
Second appearance of the mirror
In the middle of the 19th century, the mirror again reminded of itself. Its owner was the opera singer Anna Judik. At the age of 25, she won the hearts of not only all of France, but all of Russia.
The beginning of her career was very sad: a seventeen-year-old girl with a provincial appearance was not taken to any theater company. For a year she worked with a traveling troupe. And then one day a junk dealer offered her to buy a mirror. From that day on, Anna's life changed for the better.
Having already become quite famous, Anna came to Russia. There were a lot of fans near her, among them was Nekrasov. During a card game, he told his friends about the singer's strange mirror. Having lost, the poet was tasked with stealing this mirror. It turned out to be easy to find the mirror, but Nekrasov could not take it in his hands. As soon as he touched it, he fainted. Soon after, Nekrasov fell ill with consumption and died. Anna was going to go home to France. But she had to leave without her mirror.
The daughter of a wealthy breeder, Anna Stroganova, ordered the theft of Cellini's mirror from the singer. The mirror blessed her with beauty. Soon the wedding with Prince Golitsyn was to be played. But on the eve of the wedding, the girl died. Perhaps the mirror punished her, or one of the envious friends. And what about the mirror? The mirror traveled around Petersburg, taking the lives of more and more new mistresses.
In 1883, the mirror was returned to Anna Judik in a strange and mysterious way. Together with him, her former glory returned to her: at 33, she played young beauties. For almost fifty years, Anna went on stage, and then quietly and imperceptibly disappeared. The mirror also disappeared.
Isadora and Casimira
The well-known dancer Isadora Duncan announced that she would give any money to whoever gets a Cellini mirror for her. And now the mirror hit her. The age of the aging dancer has disappeared somewhere. Crowds of admirers, fame and marriage … But the mirror punished those who kept it by force. Isadora was strangled by her scarf, which was entangled in the wheel of the car.
Its next owner was Kazimira Neverovskaya. She received a mirror as a gift from the Commissar. Her death was terrible - the woman was burned to death in the chair. The mirror disappeared again.
Marlene Dietrich
In 1929, the mirror found a new owner - Marlene Dietrich, who was still unknown at that time. Marlene revolutionized cinema. She was called "the queen of the world". She shone on stage until old age.
In 1975, after a hip fracture, the actress closed in on herself. They say that until her death, she did not part with her mirror. In her will, Dietrich instructed to give the mirror to the first junk dealer she came across. In 91, the actress died.
No one knows if her will was fulfilled and who has a mirror now. Perhaps this is Catherine Deneuve, who in her 70s looks gorgeous and young. Or maybe the mirror has not yet found its owner. But all this is just guesswork.
What's the secret?
Benvenuto Cellini was a great sculptor, jeweler and just a well-educated person. He made mirrors on a gold backing. But at that time Venetian mirrors on silver amalgam were considered the best mirrors. But the secret of Cellini's mirrors was that the gold made the reflection shine with sunlight. The reflection was filled with warm colors.
Perhaps Diane de Poitiers received this mirror as a reassurance. It made the woman believe in her beauty again and gave her confidence. If a woman believes, those around her also believe. The history of the mirror itself and the name of the master did their job. The placebo effect worked - you just had to genuinely believe it. But so far the mystery of the mirror remains unsolved.
