Presentation by
Franco Manai
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1508 composition started
1513 -1516 first draft
1520 -1521second draft
1524 third draft, with part on platonic love
1528 publication in Venice when Castiglione
was in Toledo as the Pope’s ambassador at
the court of Charles V
Three versions reflect historical changes in
Italian and European courts
Definition of universal models
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The Courtier is a treatise in the form of
dialogue
Treatise and dialogue are two literary forms
and also genres
Treatise
◦ Didactic work systematically expounding on all
aspects of a specific topic
◦ 15th century Italy: large production of treatises on
many topics (art especially)
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Dialogue
◦ Plato (c. 427- 347 BC) introduced dialogue as an
independent literary form
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Pure argumentative conversation
Mostly between Socrates and some other person
Explicit or implicit disagreement to be resolved
Socrates probes his partner for further beliefs
until a contradiction is reached with the disputed
belief or hypothesis by implication
Interlocutor is made to see the impossibility of
his hypothesis, then tries some other hypothesis
which is subject to the same scrutiny
Dialogues break off without a final resolution
Castiglione says that The Courtier is modelled
on Cicero’s De oratore, Plato’s Republic and
Xenophon’s Ciropedia (Anabasis)
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Duchess ELISABETTA GONZAGA (46), wife of Guidobaldo di Montefeltro,
Duke of Urbino.
EMILIA PIO (≅30), friend and companion of the Duchess; widow of the
Duke's half-brother.
MARGARITA GONZAGA, young niece and companion of the Duchess.
COSTANZA FREGOSA, young half-niece of the Duke.
FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE (17), nephew and adopted heir of the
Duke.
Count LUDOVICO DA CANOSSA (31), a kinsman of the author, later made
Bishop of Bayeux.
FEDERICO FREGOSO (27), half-nephew of the Duke, later made a
cardinal.
GIULIANO DE' MEDICI (29), an exile from Florence, known in Urbino as
"My lord Magnifico," and afterwards made Duke of Nemours.
BERNARDO DOVIZI (37), better known as BIBBIENA, an adherent of the
Medici, afterwards made a cardinal.
OTTAVIANO FREGOSO, elder brother of Costanza and Federico, later
Doge of Genoa.
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PIETRO BEMBO (37), a Venetian scholar and poet, later made a
cardinal.
CESARE GONZAGA (32), a kinsman of the Duchess; cousin and
close friend of the author.
BERNARDO ACCOLTI (≅42), better known as the UNICO ARETINO,
a courtier-poet and popular improviser.
Count CASPAR PALLAVICINO (21).
GIANCRISTOFORO ROMANO (≅42), a sculptor, medallist, etc.
COLLO VINCENZO CALMETA, a courtier-poet.
LUDOVICO PIO, a brave young soldier; kinsman of Emilia Pio.
SIGISMONDO MORELLO DA ORTONA, an elderly courtier.
Marquess FEBUS DI CEVA
N1CCOLO FRISIO
Courtiers: PIETRO DA NAPOLI, ROBERTO MASSIMO DA BARI, Fra
SERAFINO, a jester.
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Profile of the perfect gentleman requires dialectic
collaboration of different minds
The characters in the work are real, historical
The literary form (dialogue) is an implicit
reference to the courtly conversation whose rules
are represented in the treatise
The discussion
◦ cannot go beyond the limits of a non-professional
exposition
◦ must take into consideration the communicative
situation in which the dialogues take place
The courtiers are the only ones authorized to
describe the courtier
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Divided into 4 books, each corresponding to an
evening
Book I
a. Description of the Court of Urbino
b. Discussion of the physical and moral
gifts of a perfect courtier
Book II
a. How the courtier should use these gifts
in the everyday life of court
b. Long discussion on the nature of
humour, with numerous examples
Book III The qualities of a court lady
Book IV a. The relationship between the courtier
and his prince
b. Long discourse by Pietro Bembo on
platonic love
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Ludovico di Canossa leads the conversation
Discussion focuses on the figure of the
perfect courtier, and his moral and physical
qualities
He must adopt a prudent manner, inspired by
mediocritas
Grace is the central feature of such behavior
The courtier reaches Grace through
sprezzatura, the specific form of his living in
court
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Federico Fregoso leads the discussion on how
and in which situtations the courtier must
prove his qualities
◦ Analysis of the complex and highly variable field of
interpersonal relationships
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Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena proposes the
theme of witty jokes, the facezie, as a
characteristic form of courtly entertainment
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Profile of the perfect lady of the palace
◦ Lively intermingling of the voices of various
interlocutors
◦ Giuliano de’ Medici and Cesare Gonzaga celebrate
female dignity and women’s specific virtues
◦ The misogynists, Gaspare Pallavicino, Ottaviano
Fregoso and Niccolò Frisio, express the traditional
view on women
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Gaspare Pallavicino leads the discussion on
the relationship between the courtier and the
prince
Pietro Bembo is responsible for a monologue
on platonic love
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From Italian sprezzare , from Latin expretiare ( ex and
pretium, "price, value"). Literally, it means to despise
Describes the nonchalence with which a difficult action is
performed
Can be traced back to mediocritas by Horace
◦ The hard conquest of a difficult balance, an elegance that denies
affectation and that hides the effort that is needed in order to
reach that elegance
◦ Aurea mediocritas ‘golden mean’ is the realization of the axiom in
medio stat virtus: "Virtue is in the middle, between two opposite
extremes, both vicious”
◦ In this sense, sprezzatura was a principle of ancient rhetoric
In The Courtier , it becomes an anthropological
characteristic, a global value
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Positive category defined by its opposite,
affectation
◦ “This excellence [virtue], which is opposed to
affectation, and which, at the moment, we are
calling sprezzatura, besides being the real source
from which grace springs, brings with it another
adornment, which, when it accompanies any human
action however small, not only reveals at once how
much the person knows who does it, but often
causes it to be judged much greater than in actually
is…(I 28)
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The main formal element of Grace:
◦ “But having thought many times already about how this
grace is acquired (leaving aside those who have it from the
stars), I have found quite a universal rule which in this
matter seems to me valid above all others, and in all human
affairs whether in word or deed: and that is to avoid
affectation in every way possible as though it were some
very rough and dangerous reef; and (to pronounce a new
word perhaps) to practice in all things a certain
sprezzatura, so as to conceal all art and make whatever is
done or said appear to be without effort and almost without
any thought about it.” (I 26)
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Dissimulation, like irony, presupposes
awareness of the difference between “being”
and “appearing”
Any artifice must be hidden
Gives the impression of “naturality”
[Count] The bane of affectation always
produces extreme gracelessness in all things
and that, on the other hand, the greatest
grace is produced by simplicity and
sprezzatura (I 40)
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The courtier’s behaviour should be inspired
by a simulated spontaneity
◦ “What eye is so blind as not to see in this the
ungainliness of affectation; and not to see the grace
of that cool disinvoltura [ease] (for when it is a
matter of bodily movements many call it that) in
many of the men and women her present, who
seem in words, in laughter, in posture not to care;
or seem to be thinking more of everything than of
that, so asa to cause all who are watching them to
believe that they are almost incapable of making a
mistake?” (I 26)
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Linked to the Latin gratia
◦ ‘Gratefulness’ or ‘favouring’ of somebody in regard
to somebody else
◦ ‘Beauty of the body’, similar to ‘pulchritudo, forma,
decor, venustas’
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In the visual arts grace is a synonym of
harmony and beauty. Vasari says:
◦ that statue or figure that will have these parts, will
be perfect in goodness, beauty, design and grace.
(Lives of the Artists)
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Main virtue of the court system of value
Regula universalissima “universal rule”
Rule of communication: it rules the
relationships between courtiers, both
culturally and aesthetically
Originates from sprezzatura. It is the result of
a studied and inevitably dissimulated attitude
A product of art which imitates nature
Avoids affectation through discretion and bon
giudicio “good judgement”
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Linked to neoplatonic love and beauty
◦ Sensitive expression of spiritual beauty
◦ Quality of both body and soul
Rules the relationship between the prince and the
courtier, man and woman, father and son
Can be a concession made by the lord to his
servant: in this sense it is connected to honour
and benefice
◦ The ultimate aim of the courtier is indeed “to acquire his
lord’s grace”, thus placing himself in the position of
getting it through his profession
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“Therefore our Courtier will be judged excellent,
and will show grace in all things and particularly
in his speech, if he avoids affectation…” (I 28)
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Virtuous attribute of the woman who
simulates simplicity and naturality: true
beauty
…è quella sprezzata purità gratissima agli
occhi ed agli animi umani, i quali sempre
temono essere dall’arte ingannati (I 40).
“…is that careless purity which is so pleasing
to the eyes and minds of men who are ever
fearful of being deceived by art” (I 40)
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In Book 1 chapters 14-19 and Book 3 chapter 5
Defense of nobility and virility = minor points
Main point: attention paid to the looks and the
external behavior of the court gentlemen and
gentlewomen, their social qualities, their ability to
socialize. Classical studies and a humanist cultural
education are essential to both the internal qualities
of the courtier, i.e. the sense of measure, the
mediocrity, but especially the external qualities:
equilibrium, self-control, capacity to model one’s
behaviour according to the agreed etiquette. Grace
and not affectation, physical good looks and
cordiality, readiness in conversation, controlled
malice, laughter toned down to smile. What is
described with great precision is a new social
rituality.