♥ perhaps it is beauty alone that is immortal.

i often wonder what it would be like to have

"the face that launched a thousand ships"

à la helen of troy,

but i have never considered what it would be like to

be the face that launched a thousand products,

like 19th century french opera singer,

lina cavalieri,

whose mysteriously beautiful visage

:discovered between the pages of an old magazine:

has been immortalized forever in the innumerable works of

prolific artist/painter/interior designer/creator/engraver

piero fornasetti.

fornasetti's most highly recognizable work

started out first as a tiny book called 'tema e varazioni,'

which basically means "variation on a theme"

in it, fornasetti has taken one theme:

the quietly exquisite mona lisa–esque face of lina,

and reworked it over and over again.

the collection, which was then made into just six plates

can now be found on everything from furniture

to trays, to umbrella holders, light fixtures, rugs, wallpaper & more!

when asked what inspired and possessed fornasetti

"to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman

[he replied] " i don't know, i began to make them and i never stopped."

with the help of his son, barnaba, to whom he left his archives

and time.tested techniques, fornasetti has ensured that

his ever growing body of work will never stop

and neither will his legacy.

i can't decide which one i like best.

and i always say," when in doubt, buy all of them!"

find tema e varazioni plates found here.

these pillows are like grown.up versions of pillow people.

aren't these rugs fabulous?

i am beginning to feel jealous for fornasetti's wife...

fortunately for her i don't think he ever met the real lina cavalieri!

i adore this cole & son fornasetti wallpaper collection!

perfect for a powder room or a walk in closet!

and i am head over heels for these louis xv inspired chairs!

such a modern touch to a traditional french chair.

speaking of modern, here is one of the most recent

adaptations of tema e varazioni, born of a collaboration

with anne luxe for a chalet in gstaad.

you would think that looking at this face would get old after a while,

but thats the thing about a classic beauty: its timeless.

so is this clock.

purchase dvd of animated interpretations

of tema e variazoni by design detour here.

last year i kept coming back to the same questions regarding beauty:

how do you know when someone is beautiful?

what are the qualities one must have to be considered beautiful?

what is a classic beauty? what makes someone universally beautiful?

and is it beauty at first sight or do you have to think about it first?

through his artwork, i think piero fornasetti

was able to answer those questions.