About the Author
My name is Valeria.
Born and bred in Sicily, I have been living in London for more than 7 years.
Prior to the bitter-sweet flight from "Donnafugata", I used to be an artist, a saxophonist mainly educated in the classical and baroque repertoire with more than a decade of rigorous academic education.
Through my classical studies, I developed a sensitivity towards Beauty and a new language to express my natural extroversion; learning how to express myself via the arts, I acquired a taste for the forgotten, a wonder for the decaying, a "horror vacui", which transformed me from a bucolic girl growing up in the Sicilian countryside to an Aesthete.
Once in London, tired of the musician bohémien survival lifestyle, striving for a level of financial comfort that music never gave me, I decided to invest in new and more technical education, tailoring the most formal and professional persona, being today a management professional in the commercial aviation sector.
Blinded by the phallic London skyscrapers, a corporate career finally taking off and dating a few Patrick Bateman-like sirs, I believed I transcended my artistic past although, hidden behind my grey suits somberness, the Beauty and the continuous call for it have always been there.
I felt healthy and whole once I took the decision to re-embrace it, accepting my composite interests.
Beauty is my secret refuge from a London too cool and too cold, it provides me daily with an appreciation for the idiosyncratic, and it facilitates my inner work, filling me with flamboyant confidence.
Through this blog, I desire to share my point of view on Beauty, writing about some of the topics which interest me the most.
About the Blog
Behind "De Merteuil"
The title of this blog is inspired by a character from my absolute favourite epistolary novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the Marquise de Merteuil.
I read this novel when adolescent and I absorbed from the Marquise not only an interest in the ancien régime amorality and libertine characters but mainly a deep understanding of the Feminine, so contrasting with today's feminism.
The Marquise's character development served me as the finest model of womanhood and the awareness of her tragic epilogue triggered many of my life choices.
I enjoy playing with my "Madame" alter ego...
Valerie De Merteuil is, of course, her nom the plume.
Behind the quote "I am chameleonic, chimeric, incoherent, inconsistent"
From Gabriele D'Annunzio, beloved Italian writer: his mere biography is the embodiment of the Goethean principle "Do not hurry, do not rest", a daily reminder of striving for uniqueness and excellence.
The subtitle quote is from the novel Il Piacere (The Pleasure).
This quote is the elegant verbalisation of the being composite and its vain ostentation, a languid synthesis, really, of what this blog is about.
DeMerteuil.com is a collection of stories, articles, and reviews about the author's intimate point of view on "Beauty".
To facilitate the user experience, the posts have been categorised.
The main topics will reflect the author's interest in Decadent literature, art Symbolism, mythology, analytical psychology, anthropology and lifestyle.
I hope you will have an enjoyable reading experience and, should you wish to get in touch with me, you may find my contact details in the Contact area.
Valeria
