To-the-manor-born Luchino Visconti (Senso, Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard, The Damned, Death in Venice) lived a flush, bucks-up life from cradle to grave
His primary residence was Villa La Colombaia on the island of Ischia. He also chilled at Villa Erba, a 19th Century estate near Lake Como. His third residence, I’ve been told, was a swanky pad in Rome. Last but not least was Castello di Grazzano di Visconti, a medieval abode south of Piecenza, restored over a century ago by his father, Duke Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone.
HE visited the latter yesterday afternoon. Open to the public three days a week. Every single aspect of this magnificent storied environment reduced me to awed silence. I could feel the presence of hugely pissed-off ghosts. The life-sized statues, half-soiled by the passage of time, did it especially.
