Courtier
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Book of the Courtier is a book written by Baldassare Castiglione over the course of many years beginning in 1508 and published in 1528 just before he died. Baldassare was inspired to write the Courtier by his experiences as a courtier of the virgin Duchess Elisabetta Gonzaga at the court of Urbino. The Courtier is a dialogue in four books on the subject of what constitutes a perfect courtier, and in book three, a perfect lady.
To this day, the Book of the Courtier remains the definitive account of Renaissance court life. Pietro Aretino's La cortigiana is a parody of this famous work.
Principles
Beginning with Elisabetta Gonzaga asking for a topic of conversation for the evening, the work is narrated by Ludovico da Canossa, Federigo Fregoso, and Julian de Medici among others.
The courtier is described as having a cool mind, a good voice (with beautiful, elegant and brave words), and proper bearing and gestures. At the same time, though, the courtier is expected to have a warrior spirit, to be athletic and to have good knowledge of the humanities, classics, and how to draw and paint. However, with all these skills he does everything with certain nonchalance or "sprezzatura."
Bibliography
- Raffini, Christine, "Marsilio Ficino, Pietro Bembo, Baldassare Castiglione: Philosophical, Aesthetic, and Political Approaches in Renaissance Platonism", Renaissance and Baroque Studies and Texts, v.21, Peter Lang Publishing, 1998. ISBN 0-8204-3023-4
