Archives: Francesca von Habsburg

Photos by Robert Mapplethorpe

Francesca von Habsburg is many things, and among them is an avid supporter of art and artists and a behind-the scenes player in Venice. She helped bring artists Cerith Wyn Evans and Florian Hecker together for their opera, for one. For another, when we first met her at one of the many dinners she hosted in honor of Wyn Evans, she explained that for a time she had been a muse. When her friend Robert Mapplethorpe needed money, she helped him model for early shoots at studios around New York. We expected big things, but how much (and how little) she’s changed!

The original text:

“Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza (otherwise known as Francesca von Habsburg) is the daughter of West German Industrialist and art patron Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, whose collection of old masters was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Francesca planned to make a documentary about living with art, while simultaneously modeling for her ‘ego.'”