Il Cortegiano Research Articles

Sprezzatura: The Art of Concealing Art in Fashıon, Music and Painting

Baldassare Castiglione’nin 1528 tarihinde yazdığı Il Cortegiano isimli kitaba konu olan sprezzatura kavramı, dönemi ve sonrası için çığır açmış, estetik yaklaşımları derinden etkilemiş bir kavramdır. Bugün hala estetikte tartışılagelen; güzellik ve grazia gibi kavramları açıklamak için oldukça etkili bir araçtır. Başlangıçta, bir Rönesans aristokratının davranışları ve sahip olması gereken özelliklere yönelik kullanılan bir kelime olup; kavramsal kökleri Aristoteles ve Cicero’ya kadar dayandırılır. Antik Yunan’dan beri tartışılagelen sanat eserinde ulaşılmak istenen grazia’ya ulaşmak için mutlak bir gereklilik, bir araç olarak da görülür. İnsan eliyle yapılan bütün sanatsal eylemlerde sprezzatura, ustalık noktasının da ötesi, en üst olgunluk noktasının bir ifadesi olarak görülür. Edebiyat, resim, heykel, görsel sanatların tümü, moda, mimari, konuşma sanatı ve müzikte sprezzatura alana özgü farklılıklar doğrultusunda sanatçının dikkate alması gereken bir prensiptir. Bu makalede sprezzatura, estetik tartışmalar ışığında anlam ve kapsamı ile birlikte açıklanırken; özellikle moda, müzik ve resimde bu kavramın neyi ifade ettiği ortaya konulmaya çalışılmış, eğitim süreçlerine yönelik öneriler ortaya konulmuştur.Baldassare Castiglione’nin 1528 tarihinde yazdığı Il Cortegiano isimli kitaba konu olan sprezzatura kavramı, dönemi ve sonrası için çığır açmış, estetik yaklaşımları derinden etkilemiş bir kavramdır. Bugün hala estetikte tartışılagelen; güzellik ve grazia gibi kavramları açıklamak için oldukça etkili bir araçtır. Başlangıçta, bir Rönesans aristokratının davranışları ve sahip olması gereken özelliklere yönelik kullanılan bir kelime olup; kavramsal kökleri Aristoteles ve Cicero’ya kadar dayandırılır. Antik Yunan’dan beri tartışılagelen sanat eserinde ulaşılmak istenen grazia’ya ulaşmak için mutlak bir gereklilik, bir araç olarak da görülür. İnsan eliyle yapılan bütün sanatsal eylemlerde sprezzatura, ustalık noktasının da ötesi, en üst olgunluk noktasının bir ifadesi olarak görülür. Edebiyat, resim, heykel, görsel sanatların tümü, moda, mimari, konuşma sanatı ve müzikte sprezzatura alana özgü farklılıklar doğrultusunda sanatçının dikkate alması gereken bir prensiptir. Bu makalede sprezzatura, estetik tartışmalar ışığında anlam ve kapsamı ile birlikte açıklanırken; özellikle moda, müzik ve resimde bu kavramın neyi ifade ettiği ortaya konulmaya çalışılmış, eğitim süreçlerine yönelik öneriler ortaya konulmuştur.

Baldassarre Castiglione diplomatico: la missione del cortegiano by Raffaele Ruggiero

 Reviews treatment in epic in Italy and offers valuable and interesting perspectives on the different interpretations of this stream of literature across the centuries. L T C B Baldassarre Castiglione diplomatico: la missione del cortegiano. By R R- . (Biblioteca dell’Archivum Romanicum, Serie , Storia, letteratura, paleografia, ) Florence: Olschki. . xv+ pp. €. ISBN –– ––. In  two important works dedicated to Baldassarre Castiglione were published: the complete edition of his family and diplomatic letters (Lettere famigliari e diplomatiche , ed. by Guido La Rocca, Angelo Stella, and Umberto Morando; Lettera ad Alfonso Valdés, ed. by Paolo Pintacuda, with notes by Roberto Vetrugno and a note on the illustrations by Luca Bianco,  vols (Turin: Einaudi, )), and the three-volume edition of Il libro del Cortegiano, edited by Amedeo Quondam (Rome: Bulzoni, ), which contains the editio princeps (vol. ), the text of the manuscript Ashburnhamiano  preserved in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence (vol. ), and a description of the evolution of the dialogue from manuscript to printed book (vol. ). ese works offer a solid basis for this monograph by Raffaele Ruggiero, who aims to read Il Cortegiano through the lens of the diplomatic experience of his author. rough a close reading of the letters sent to Castiglione’s relatives, friends, patrons, and colleagues, Ruggiero reviews the role that Castiglione played on the European political scene, from his first journey to England in , on behalf of the Duke of Urbino Guidubaldo da Montefeltro, to his last mission as papal nuncio in Spain, between  and . e analysis of Castiglione’s diplomatic career results in a detailed history of Italian (and European) politics in the first thirty years of the sixteenth century. In some cases, the reconstruction of the broader framework seems more relevant than Castiglione’s personal contribution, as shown by the chapter dedicated to the Medici papacy (pp. –). However, this solid background—though with some minor redundancies (as in the descriptions of Pope Adrian VI at pp.  and )—is never an end in itself; rather, it is meant to support a critical interpretation of the choices made by Castiglione. e attention paid to the politics of Leo X, for example, is designed to explain Castiglione’s passage from Urbino to Rome: ‘una transizione che non è solo legata a scelte opportunistiche e personali, ma che si sposa con una esatta valutazione sul tramonto delle piccole signorie italiane e sull’esigenza di una voce autorevole (quella dello stato ecclesiastico) per tenere l’Italia almeno su un piano paritario rispetto alle potenze europee’ (p. ). e acknowledgement of the weakness of Italian courts and the need for a different involvement of Italy on the international scene has a direct impact on the functions of the intellectuals, gradually transformed from courtiers into secretaries. is is an aspect which, according to Ruggiero, deeply influences the evolution of Il Cortegiano and, particularly, the writing of its fourth and final book. MLR, .,   In the first part of Castiglione’s diplomatic career, one addressee in particular stands out from his letters: namely, his mother Aloisia Gonzaga, who appears as a ‘donna esperta e attenta alle evoluzioni della politica italiana ed europea’ and a ‘consigliera prudente’ (p. ). e interest in contemporary political matters shown by Aloisia is noticeable, not only for the pieces of advice that she gives to her son, but also for the influence that her model might have had on the way Castiglione represents women and addresses the querelle des femmes in the third book of Il Cortegiano. is is not the only connection between his correspondence and the dialogue. In fact, his letters frequently anticipate or mirror topics that have an absolute relevance in the text, such as the influence of fortuna on human lives (p. ), ‘l’attenzione [. . .] prestata agli aspetti cerimoniali’ (p. ), and, above all, the interest in a regulated use of language(s) (p. ). Trained in the (humanistic and diplomatic) art of perfect communication, Castiglione identifies in an effective conversation the main goal of an ideal courtier. is is, as stated in the subtitle of the book by Ruggiero, the ‘mission’ of Il Cortegiano, a text that can thus stand as ‘il lessico della classe dirigente europea’ (p. ), even aer the...

The Reading Horizont of Adam Smith from the Perspective of His Italian Library

The paper proposes understanding the reading interest in Italian of the thinker Adam Smith (1723-1790), author of the Theory of Moral Sentiments and of the Wealth of Nations from the perspective of the partial review of his library’s catalogue, with approximately 1,000 titles published in English, French, Italian, Greek and Latin. The list of books published in Italian, which Adam Smith purchased for his library and we assume he also read, since he quoted some, represent the Appendix of the present work. From his Italian library, 60 volumes were identified, published between 1547 (B. Castiglione, Il Cortegiano) and 1784 (32 volumes from Parnaso Italiano ovvero Raccolto de’ Poeti Classici Italiani). Just a few years before his death, the great admiror of Italian literature, assiduous reader of Italian poetry, drama, memoirs, correspondence, biographies, jurisprudence, economics, art and history (especially that of Venice and Florence) was still purchasing and reading books from the Italian states, a fact which sketches a personality with a profound cultural and humanities features.

Celestina and the Human Condition in Early Modern Spain and Italy by Rachel Scott

Reviewed by: Celestina and the Human Condition in Early Modern Spain and Italy by Rachel Scott Joseph T. Snow Rachel Scott. Celestina and the Human Condition in Early Modern Spain and Italy. 215 pp. tamesis, 2017, this volume, in its focus on literary manifestations dealing with the misery and dignity of man, examines the peripheries of society as seen in Celestina and four works printed in Italy in the sixteenth century: Fernán Pérez de Oliva's Diálogo de la dignidad del hombre (1546, printed twice in Italy); Il cortegiano (1528) by Baldassare Castiglione; and two of the six parts of Pietro Aretino's Ragionamento (1534–36), La vita delle puttane and Coloquio de las damas, translated into Spanish by Fernán Xuárez. The extremes of society discussed in these works invited contemporary readers to participate in the renegotiation of the significance of what it meant to be a courtly person or a prostitute. As Scott states, "The literary horizon is reconfigured by new interlocutors, and as alternative perspectives on human misery and dignity merge, different nuances come to light" (15). These words succinctly summarize the author's approach and methodology. These works were part of an ongoing dialogue about what it means to be human, especially in the light of one's relationships with other individuals and with the community. In Pérez de Oliva's Diálogo, the theme stressed is self-knowledge as key to coping with earthly and spiritual anxieties. One of its players, Antonio, contends that self-knowledge is edifying and permits man to approach the divine. The second player, Aurelio, opposes that view by claiming that self-knowledge leads to solitude and a loss of self-respect. God is always present for Antonio, but never for Aurelio. A reading of Celestina through these different assessments of selfknowledge leans toward the negative lens of Aurelio, where sexual misconduct is a byproduct of disbelief. Its characters seek independence and some means of control, but not through friendships. Melibea's repressed sexuality invites interpretation by readers; her fantasies revolve around books she has read. Pleberio, in the final auto of the work, blames Love, Fortune, and the World for his failings, confirming Aurelio's view that vile things in the world will indeed lead to isolation. In essence, Celestina transcends the earlier notions that the misery and dignity of man sought to increase faith in [End Page 185] the benevolence of God and his power. Rather than salvation and consolation, Celestina frames doubt and disbelief and challenges a belief in God, thus creating a gulf between the human and the divine. In both Italy and Spain, the arts of good conversation and skilled use of rhetoric were intellectually valued. In Castiglione's Il cortegiano, readers are made aware of an esteemed social use of language defined as courtly. Latin and the vernacular were both part of this ideal, and elegant speech was also considered a performance. Words thus become the elements of a kind of self-fashioning, and the successful courtesan is one who is capable of constructing an identity with words. In the case of Celestina, the identity of its characters—in terms of language—is fashioned on literary models and not on the courtiers around them. For example, conversations between Melibea and Calisto are frequently shown as being at cross-purposes. The rejected Calisto needs a new voice to reach Melibea, and that voice is provided by Celestina. And if the living Calisto is not an ideal courtly lover, Melibea's words after his death make him seem like one. Because language in Celestina cultivates ends that are monetary and sexual—whereas in Il cortegiano language seeks political influence or the attainment of abstract social virtues—Celestina can be seen as a test of whether language could be a civilizing force (98). But dignity is not only associated with the upper courtly class of society. Between different social classes, there was much interplay. In Aretino's La vita delle puttane, human agency is not only determined by morals, but by the kind of free will that struggling to define one's self can achieve. The theme of human agency is of utmost...

The Art of Human Composition in Giovanni Pontano’s De principe liber

There is a famous passage at the beginning of Book III of Il Libro del Cortegiano (1528) in which Baldesar Castiglione, in his opening address to Messer Alfonso Ariosto, compares the glorious court of Urbino to the mighty body of Hercules.1 While this description shows the author’s reliance on classical sources in developing the political themes of Il Cortegiano,2 it also reveals, from an artistic perspective, a strong interest during the Italian Renaissance in the study of the human body and its proportions. In the visual arts, Renaissance painters, sculptors and architects studied the human figure as an expression of mathematical relationships and geometric forms. In the fifteenth century, the revival of the classics brought to the foreground the great literary works of antiquity. Vitruvius’ treatise on architecture (De architectura), for instance, played a significant role in revitalizing the study of the human figure. Artists like Brunelleschi and Donatello sought to discover the principles which the classical artist had followed when creating such beautiful works. Their analysis of classical architecture led them to an understanding

:Language and Statecraft in Early Modern Venice

This book by treats Renaissance Venice's outlawing of blasphemy, strong insult, and loose political talk. It also takes up the question of official attitudes toward the clever conversation of the city's up-market prostitutes. Obvious links between speech and government are at once apparent. The author's aims, however, reach beyond this linkage, for she sees a Venetian state that was “constructing a normative language” which was “a useful tool in the practice of statecraft” (pp. 10, 215). The structure of the book has very clear lines that are set forth in the introduction. In it, Elizabeth Horodowich reflects on sociolinguistics, state formation, manuals of conduct, everyday speech, and her intended use of archival materials. Chapter one, “Defining the Art of Conversation,” analyzes the materials on speech in three sixteenth-century primers of conduct: Baldasarre Castiglione's Il cortegiano, Giovanni della Casa's Il Galateo ovvero De' Costumi, and Stefano Guazzo's La civil conversazione. None was a Venetian work, but because they were enormously popular in their day, the author feels justified in using them to underline the place of speech in behavior.

THOMAS HOBY'S ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF CASTIGLIONE'S BOOK OF THE COURTIER

ABSTRACTThe first English translation of Castiglione's Il cortegiano was produced by Thomas Hoby, and published in 1561. Hoby began work on the text during Edward VI's reign, when Italian culture was admired for its progressiveness by the Protestant elite. He translated Book iii as a self-contained commission for Elizabeth Parr, marchioness of Northampton. The book in question had particular relevance for the marchioness at that stage of her career. Having ‘Englished’ it, Hoby did not initially intend to translate the rest of Il cortegiano. He knew that someone else was already engaged upon the project. The identity of this alternative translator has hitherto remained unknown. However, a strong case can be made in support of the candidature of William Thomas. Hoby only embarked upon a full translation after Thomas's execution for treason in 1554. By 1556, he had completed his task, and produced a dedication addressed to Henry Hastings. His choice of dedicatee is generally attributed to a sense of political and spiritual affinity; Hastings moved in the same intellectual circles, and shared the same Protestant background, as Hoby. However, the young man who would later be known as the ‘Puritan earl’ conformed to the prescribed religion of the Marian regime. More significantly, he was the nephew of Cardinal Pole. Hoby and several of his evangelical friends were seeking rapprochement with the Catholic government in 1556. Hoby hoped his translation would commend him to Pole, thus effecting his political rehabilitation. However, the authorities were suspicious of Hoby – and of the stationer to whom he entrusted his book. Doubts were also raised about the Catholic orthodoxy of Castiglione's dialogues. Consequently, Hoby's translation was not published until after the Elizabethan accession.

Gian Francesco Torresani of Asola and the Aldine printing press: A new chapter in intellectual and printing history

Abstract Gian Francesco Torresani (Asola nr Mantua C.1498–1557/8 Venice) has always been considered a very minor figure, known only as the brother-in-law of Aldus Manutius, founder (1494/5) of the one of the best-known early publishing enterprises, the Aldine press. It is little known that Gian Francesco d'Asola brilliantly continued Aldus Manutius's work after his death, publishing among other things the best-selIer Il Cortegiano by Baldassarre Castiglione (1528) and the important first Greek editions of Simplicius' commentaries on Aristotle. Aldus Manutius (Bassiano c.1451–1515 Venice) had moved to Venice around 1490 and started printing in partnership with Andrea Torresan (Asola 1451–1518 Venice), who was already well established there. Manutius' relationship to Andrea became closer when, in 1505, he married his partner's young daughter Maria (1485–after 6 May 1534).

Court Culture and Moreto's El lindo don Diego : Are You In, Or Are You Out?

This paper examines two views of court life, as outlined in Il Cortegiano and El oráculo manual y arte de prudencia , by Baldassar Castiglione and Baltasar Gracián, respectively. In these "etiquette manuals" these two writers clearly illustrate the Renaissance's preoccupation with ideals and appearances. Although Castiglione and Gracián differ in terms of their personal views of court life, each writer ultimately reaches the same conclusion: social success depends on one's ability to function within the ruling class. To achieve such success, it is essential that the individual, in our case, the courtier, understand the dynamics at work and his position within them. Not to act in a manner deemed proper and ideal by those in power will bring about the downfall of the impostor who dares not follow the rules. Agustín Moreto's El lindo don Diego offers a perfect example of the would-be galán , whose attempts to enter Madrid high society fail miserably as he proves himself incapable of understanding the role he is to perform. The figurón 's inattention to self guarantees his demise as the foolish figure who is excluded from the desired society which crystallizes at the play's end. His exclusion is acceptable, it is argued, not only because he is a laughable character, but also because his behaviour and ignorance are an affront to the etiquette of the period. More important, however, is the degree of responsibility granted to the spectator in the rejection of the figurón . We as members of the audience are essentially challenged to accept and therefore meet the expectations of court society; it is this acceptance which will guarantee our inclusion and justify the figurón 's exclusion. What is technically comedy on stage is actually irony in its reception, as the audience's desire to be seen as one of the "chosen few" mirrors the goal of the figurón . Indeed, our participation in the machinations against the odd character secures our own entry into the final society and spares us the comical wrath of those who are at its doors. (ML)

Su Leonardo il cortegiano(Papers Read at 40th National Congress)

Su Leonardo il cortegiano(Papers Read at 40th National Congress)

Spenser's Art of War: Chivalric Allegory, Military Technology, and the Elizabethan Mock-Heroic Sensibility

In the medieval romances single combat was the knightly norm. The Italian chivalric epics sought to adapt this convention to the ideals of the Renaissance courtier. In Il Cortegiano, Frederico Fregoso explains “that where the Courtyer is at skirmishe, or assault, or battaile upon the land, or in such other places of enterprise, he ought to worke the matter wisely in seperating himself from the multitude, and undertake his notable and bould feates which he hath to doe, with as little company as he can.“’ But such displays of panache had little place in the massed infantry tactics that dominated the actual battlefields of the sixteenth century. It was disciplined self-restraint that made the Swiss and Spanish pike phalanxes so formidable, relegating cavalry to secondary importance. The Italian courtierknights had been rudely humbled, after all, when Charles XII invaded Italy in 1494 and deployed his excellent artillery.

"Measure for Measure" and the Fourth Book of Castiglione's "Il Cortegiano"

"Measure for Measure" and the Fourth Book of Castiglione's "Il Cortegiano"

The Book of the Courtyer: A Possible Source of Benedick and Beatrice

“The best book that ever was written upon good breeding, Il Cortegiano , by Castiglione, grew up at the little Court of Urbino, and you should read it,” says Dr. Johnson to Boswell, of all places in the world, in the Isle of Skye, “roving among the Hebrides at sixty.” But when, in the Life of Addison, we find the Courtyer classed with Galateo , and compared with the social essays of the Spectator and the Tatler , it becomes clear that the Great Cham was so ignorant of the law he was laying down in this instance, that he took Il Cortegiano for a courtesy-book, a book of etiquette:— To teach the minuter decencies and inferior duties, to regulate the practice of daily conversation, to correct those depravities which are rather ridiculous than criminal, to remove those grievances which, if they produce no lasting calamities, impress hourly vexation, was first attempted by Casa in his book of manners, and Castiglione in the Courtier.” (Works, VII, 428, Addison.

The Book of the Courtyer: A Possible Source of Benedick and Beatrice

“The best book that ever was written upon good breeding, Il Cortegiano, by Castiglione, grew up at the little Court of Urbino, and you should read it,” says Dr. Johnson to Boswell, of all places in the world, in the Isle of Skye, “roving among the Hebrides at sixty.” But when, in the Life of Addison, we find the Courtyer classed with Galateo, and compared with the social essays of the Spectator and the Tatler, it becomes clear that the Great Cham was so ignorant of the law he was laying down in this instance, that he took Il Cortegiano for a courtesy-book, a book of etiquette:—To teach the minuter decencies and inferior duties, to regulate the practice of daily conversation, to correct those depravities which are rather ridiculous than criminal, to remove those grievances which, if they produce no lasting calamities, impress hourly vexation, was first attempted by Casa in his book of manners, and Castiglione in the Courtier.” (Works, VII, 428, Addison.