He treated her, as they say, "Quite Well," except that he appears not to have taken her in any degree seriously as a human being. — Angela Carter (image via Wikimedia Commons) Being a muse is a glamorous life — until you get old. For two decades, Charles Baudelaire held his "exotic" mistress, Haitian-born cabaret star Jeanne Duval, in the highest poetic esteem. He wrote verses dedicated to his Creole mistress, calling her "Black Venus" and "mistress of mistresses."
A Woman to Know: Jeanne Duval
A Woman to Know: Jeanne Duval
A Woman to Know: Jeanne Duval
He treated her, as they say, "Quite Well," except that he appears not to have taken her in any degree seriously as a human being. — Angela Carter (image via Wikimedia Commons) Being a muse is a glamorous life — until you get old. For two decades, Charles Baudelaire held his "exotic" mistress, Haitian-born cabaret star Jeanne Duval, in the highest poetic esteem. He wrote verses dedicated to his Creole mistress, calling her "Black Venus" and "mistress of mistresses."