Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 624 pages of information about Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7).

Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 624 pages of information about Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7).
occupation.’  He points out that the Venetian nobles are not properly so called, since they are merchants.  The different districts of Italy had widely different conceptions of nobility.  Naples was always aristocratic, owing to its connection with France and Spain.  Ferrara maintained the chivalry of courts.  Those states, on the other hand, which had been democratized, like Florence, by republican customs, or like Milan, by despotism, set less value on birth than on talent and wealth.  It was not until the age of the Spanish ascendency (latter half of sixteenth century) that Cosimo I. withdrew the young Florentines from their mercantile pursuits and enrolled them in his order of S. Stephen, and that the patricians of Genoa carried daggers inscribed ‘for the chastisement of villeins.’

The precepts which are laid down for the use of his acquirements and his general conduct, resolve themselves into a strong recommendation of tact and caution.  The courtier must study the nature of his prince, and show the greatest delicacy in approaching him, so as to secure his favor, and to avoid wearying him with importunities.  In tendering his advice he must be modest; but he should make a point of never sacrificing his own liberty of judgment.  To obey his master in dishonorable things would be a derogation from his dignity; and if he discovers any meanness in the character of the prince, it is better to quit his service.[1] A courtier must be careful to create beforehand a favorable opinion of himself in places he intends to visit.  Much stress is laid upon his choice of clothes and the equipment of his servants.  In these respects he should aim at combining individuality with simplicity, so as to produce an impression of novelty without extravagance or eccentricity.  He must be very cautious in his friendships, selecting his associates with care, and admitting only one or two to intimacy.

[1] From many passages in the ‘Cortegiano’ it is clear that Castiglione is painting the character of an independent gentleman, to whom self-culture in all humane excellence is of far more importance than the acquisition of the art of pleasing.  Circumstances made the life of courts the best obtainable; but there is no trace of French ‘oeil-de-boeuf’ servility.

In connection with the general subject of tact and taste, the Cardinal Bibbiena introduces an elaborate discussion of the different sorts of jokes, which proves the high value attached in Italy to all displays of wit.  It appears that even practical jokes were not considered in bad taste, but that irreverence and grossness were tabooed as boorish.  Mere obscenity is especially condemned, though it must be admitted that many jests approved of at that time would now appear intolerable.  But the essential point to be aimed at then, as now, was the promotion of mirth by cleverness, and not by mere tricks and clumsy inventions.

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Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.