PublishedPenguin Classics, January 2001 |
ISBN9780140441925 |
FormatSoftcover, 368 pages |
Dimensions19.8cm × 12.9cm × 2.1cm |
The Italian Renaissance man's handbook, defining the virtues essential for a man of the Court
In The Book of the Courtier (1528), Baldesar Castiglione, a diplomat and Papal Nuncio to Rome, sets out to define the essential virtues for those at Court. In a lively series of imaginary conversations between the real-life courtiers to the Duke of Urbino, his speakers discuss qualities of noble behaviour - chiefly discretion, decorum, nonchalance and gracefulness - as well as wider questions such as the duties of a good government and the true nature of love. Castiglione's narrative power and psychological perception make this guide both an entertaining comedy of manners and a revealing window onto the ideals and preoccupations of the Italian Renaissance at the moment of its greatest splendour.
