Excellence, ma Mie. Funzione pubblica, patronage e rapporti di genere in una corrispondenza mantovana del secondo Settecento

The essay explores the relationship between countess Maria Teresa Castiglioni, the young widow of a Mantouan noble, and an official of the Duchy of Mantua under the Habsburgs, in the second half of the Eighteenth Century. The case, in a context of cultural change, sheds some light on various interconnected topics, such as the search for equality and liberty in personal relations and the limits coming from social rules and hierarchies; widowhood and celibacy as either a way to indipendence or a mandatory condition; the distance between modern bureau jobs and aristocratic leisure; the extention of women's influence on public careers; the impact of the revolution on personal and professional ties.