1. Presentation by Franco Manai

2. The Book of the Courtier 1528
1508 composition started
first draft
second 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

3. Treatises and Dialogues
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)
Dialogue
Plato (c BC) introduced dialogue as an independent literary form

4. Plato (c. 427 BC - c. 347 BC)

5. Plato’s Dialogues 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)

6. Urbino, Palazzo Ducale

7. Interlocutors
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.

8. Interlocutors cont’s
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.

9. Elisabetta Gonzaga by Raffaello

10. Francesco Maria della Rovere (?) by Raffaello, Uffizi

11. Francesco Maria Della Rovere by Tiziano, Uffizi

12. Pietro Bembo as a young gentleman by Raffaello

13. Cardinal Pietro Bembo by Tiziano (National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA)

14. Cardinal Pietro Bembo by Tiziano (Museo di Capodimonte, Napoli)

15. Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena by Raffaello

16. Ideological implications of the dialogue
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

17. Structure of The Courtier
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

18. The First Book 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

19. The Second Book
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
Bernardo Dovizi da Bibbiena proposes the theme of witty jokes, the facezie, as a characteristic form of courtly entertainment

20. The Third Book 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

21. The Fourth Book
Gaspare Pallavicino leads the discussion on the relationship between the courtier and the prince
Pietro Bembo is responsible for a monologue on platonic love

22. Sprezzatura
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

23. Sprezzatura 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)

24. Sprezzatura 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)

25. Sprezzatura = Dissimulation
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)

26. Simulated Spontaneity
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)

27. Grace 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’
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)

28. Grace 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”

29. Grace 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
“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)

30. Feminine Grace
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)

31. Interpretation 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.