The Meaning of Sprezzatura in Life and Art in the Sixteenth Century
Evelyn Spence Art History 233 Professor Edgerton December 5, 1996 Sprezzatura, as a word to describe art and life in the Italian High Renaissance, is a complicated concept. Paradoxical in nature, with positive and negative connotations, it does well to act as an adjective of the elaborate structure of sixteenth century society. Aristocrats desired to possess it and artists strove to depict it. As the subject of Baldassare Castiglione¹s influential Book of the Courtier, it was a simultaneous reflection of the Renaissance man as a graceful performer and a superficial manipulator. In society, as in art, the emphasis was on effect, on convincing an audience or a viewer that impressive actions required little effort. The value of sprezzatura originated in antiquity, and Renaissance society combined it with Christian virtues to create the perfect man. Although the word was both contradictory and indefinable, it was the standard of successful behavior towards which sixteenth century social climbers strove. The meaning of sprezzatura in art and life in the High Renaissance is difficult to determine. Part of the trouble stems from the contradictions inherent in the word itself; it is paradoxical, closely related to grace, but with slightly different connotations. Castiglione¹s Book of the Courtier elaborated on what the word meant for social interaction. A character in the book, Count Ludovico, explains the meaning of grace, and in it he mentions sprezzatura. ³It is an art which does not seem to be an art. One must avoid affectation and practice in all things a certain sprezzatura, disdain or carelessness, so as to conceal art, and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it....obvious effort is the antithesis of grace.² The most important aspect of sprezzatura is its two-layered nature: it involves a conscious effort which is disguised by a concealing act. Things which require effort are to be performed casually. Count Ludovico seems to be saying that grace arises out of sprezzatura. Anthony Blunt interprets it this way: ³It will vanish if a man takes too much pains to attain it, or if he shows any effort to attain it. Nothing but complete ease can produce it. The only effort which should be expended in attaining it is an effort to conceal the skill on which it is based; and it is from sprezzatura, or recklessness, that grace springs.² In High Renaissance life, the courtiers wanted to put on a kind of performance, a subtle one, without allowing anyone to know it was self-conscious and deliberate behavior. The meaning of grazia, of grace, isn¹t different in Castiglione than in the Greco-Roman tradition. It connotes a kindness, an ease. However, the concept of sprezzatura was unknown to either the Greeks or the Romans. It is related to grace, but is not synonymous. Count Ludovico, in Book 1, Chapter 26 of The Book of the Courtier, states his universal rule of social behavior; it begins negatively, as if he cannot explain it explicitly: ³...that is to avoid affectation in every way possible as if it were some very rough and dangerous reef.² Affectation is a conspicuous artificiality of manner or appearance, a pretension, in many ways the opposite of sprezzatura. While both words describe artificiality, one connotes the obvious, while the other connotes the well-hidden. Sprezzatura has given much trouble to translators, and Eduardo Saccone suggests that it is the etymology that creates confusion. It implies disdain, devaluation, and neglect. It is an oxymoron: ³an art without art, a negligent diligence, an inattentive attention.² Its paradoxical nature makes it difficult to render precise. Naturally, the man should excel, but must completely avoid seeming to do so. Everything must be performed with a certain nonchalance. Again, the possession of sprezzatura means the possession of an acting talent that hides itself well. Another way of looking at the meaning of the word relies on Aristotelian ideas. First, Count Ludovico states that the behavior must be learned and perfected by diligent observation. This is based on the Aristotelian doctrine that all excellences are habits which eventually become acquired. ³When right action is habitual, it attains the status of nature and becomes grace itself.² Second, Castiglione planned to define an area of human conduct that was an Aristotelian middle ground between two extremes, a mean between ³supreme grace² and ³stupid ineptitude,² an area between the divine and carnal. One is too obviously graceful, while the other is a failure. Castiglione tells us that the opposite of sprezzatura is affectation, which consists of overstepping these limits of moderation. Aristotle, in Book 2 of Nichomachean Ethics, gives a name to the virtue of interpersonal relations and the two extremes it can reach: ³As regards veracity, the character who aims at the mean may be called Œtruthful¹ and what he aims at Œtruthfulness.¹ Pretending when it goes too far is Œboastfulness¹....If it takes the form of understatement, the pretence is called Œirony¹....² Castiglione seems to be ignoring truthfulness, and using the lower extreme, irony, to define sprezzatura. When one conveys a meaning that is the opposite of its real, or literal, meaning, the situation is ironic. Sprezzatura has a similar kind of deception. ³We know that the essential thing for the practice of irony, as also of sprezzatura, is dissimulation: a trick, or at any rate always a detachment, a discrepancy between being and seeming....the success of irony, as of sprezzatura, obviously depends on its reception.² The success of irony depends on the presence of an audience, and implies a kind of manipulation. There are two audiences in front of which a courtier acts. One consists of the people who know the secret, and will admire the success of the man who pulls it off. These are other courtiers, who are members of an exclusive club; they can see that it is an act, and they appreciate how well it is executed. The second audience admires the man without seeing the sprezzatura or irony in the situation. This public, which is fooled by sprezzatura, is excluded from the club. It is almost like a performance, or a trick. The audience of courtiers realizes that there is some trick, even if they can¹t discover it exactly. The other audience never has an idea that a trick exists. Because their appearances are like performances, the best courtiers must always calculate carefully his actions and words, always taking into account their audiences so they can manipulate them. Sprezzatura describes how the Renaissance men conducted themselves. They never showed their true personality; they were always aware of being watched, always on guard. ³Untrammeled by convention...yet true to his inner essence, his mysterious virtù--this was the compulsive image which Renaissance man created for himself. Instead of the stage being the mirror of life, it seemed rather as if the characters of melodrama had usurped the true characters of men.² The word, in the positive sense, implies grace, stylishness, and decorum. However, it has some negative connotations as well. In acting with sprezzatura, men were deliberately artificial and deceptive. Castiglione¹s book supplied Renaissance men with a detailed discussion of proper conduct, and much of this conduct utilized sprezzatura. In the palace of Urbino, men and women of high birth discussed the qualities required in an ideal courtier, a man of affairs. Castiglione was an aristocratic himself, a soldier and diplomat, an educated man. He described how perfect and polished manners could improve social rank. His main message was that noble birth was not a requirement for courtiership. Rather, education and a calculated ease of manner were necessary. Castiglione¹s book was significant for the entire sixteenth century as a gauge for many aspects of culture. He addressed language, literature, art, music, courtiership, politics, humor, feminism, and Neoplatonism. As Robert Hanning says, ³Castiglione stands as the truest reflection of the complicated cultural phenomenon and historical moment we call the High Renaissance.² The Book of the Courtier was a portrait of an exclusive society which subscribed to the values cherished in antiquity itself, and its purpose and structure mirrored that of the classical thinkers. One of Castiglione¹s main sources was Cicero¹s De Officiis (On Public Duties), which gave an ethical justification of leisure within the bounds of decorum. The structure of the book is similar to Plato¹s dialogues, consisting in a series of speeches at a gathering of friends. Each speech takes place on a single evening in the court of Urbino, an ideal setting of imagination and intellect. Castiglione constructs a model for a gentle society in a goal parallel to the philosophers of antiquity. ³...I am content to have erred with Plato, Xenephon, and Cicero, and just as, according to these authors, there is the Idea of the perfect Republic, the perfect King, and the perfect Orator, so likewise there is that of the perfect Courtier.² In order to attain perfection, the courtier must follow a curriculum in Plato¹s primary disciplines, uniting the training of the body and the mind. The traditional Greek subjects of gymnastics, military training, music, and poetry were supplemented by the Christian values of service and humility. This combination of virtues from antiquity and the sixteenth century is characteristic of the period, and it creates the Renaissance paideia. In ³The Paideia of a Renaissance Gentleman: Castiglione¹s Book of the Courtier,² Henning states that paideia is more than a formal curriculum, more than a list of subjects to be learned. It is governed by the values and needs of the society, and it seeks to prepare students for real life in civilization. Castiglione prescribes a useful education similar to the program of Plato. Castiglione was not the only author to outline a strategy of social improvement for the Renaissance man. Giovanni della Casa also stressed the importance of good manners. His Galateo, a treatise on polite behavior, emphasized that manners were more important than noble virtues like justice, which are needed less frequently. Manners had an application to daily life and interaction. While men did not often have the chance to demonstrate their courage in everyday situations, they could always act appropriately. Castiglione also relied on the Ovidian tradition of cultus behavior. ³In Ovid¹s works of love Castiglione found the lucid perspective, the ideal of art excelling because it hides its existence, the insistence that artfulness can and should extend to all human social activity, and the genial commitment to self-aggrandizement by manipulation of the environment and the self.² Ovid provided the inspiration for advocating strategic role playing, for hiding the hard work and convincing the audience that the courtier could do even better if he actually tried. As producer, director and star player of his own drama, Ovid¹s perfect man showed his strengths and hid his weaknesses. The relationship of Ovid and Aristotle to social behavior in the High Renaissance is an example of how the High Renaissance reacted to ideas and traditions of antiquity. The Renaissance was a rebirth of classical learning, but because it took place in the Christian age, there couldn¹t be just a simple renewal of Greek and Roman thought. Classical ideas were adapted to the new beliefs and customs of the sixteenth century. Both Greeks and Christians wanted to perfect the human being; Greeks believed this was achieved through the persistence of the individual, while Christians believed it was part of man¹s nature through the act of God¹s creation. The revived Greek ideas that did not contradict God¹s truth were added to experience of Renaissance men. ³The Renaissance combined the Greek regard for pleasure as good in itself with the Christian acceptance of pleasure as a gift from God.² In Christianity, ³grace² was a term for God¹s generosity to man, a gift. In Latin (gratia) and Greek (charis), grace has the same root. Its original meaning was a combination of favor, good will, esteem, and love. With the rediscovery of classical learning, grace no longer just applied to theology. The Renaissance constructed a theory of secular grace, an important part of Renaissance aesthetics. Grace became a perfection towards which individuals strove, a goal of goodness. In this light, Castiglione¹s book was ³an inquiry into the process of attaining true excellence in human society. Pleasure was seen as the guiding principle; grace was viewed as the beginning, the means, and the end of the progress towards Christian excellence; love and joy were seen as its fruition.² The purely Christian notion of grace did not include manipulation and superficiality; it emphasized the positive aspects of sprezzatura, the coolness, the simple pleasure. The value that Renaissance society placed on this kind of grace originated out of earlier Christian traditions. The earliest, thirteenth century works on manners were written by clerics, arising from the conditions of life in closed monastic communities. Belches and sneezes, for example, disturbed worship. Monastic life was also tied to courtly life by the fact that many clerics were aristocrats themselves. De Civilitate, a book of social advice by Erasmus, gave similar rules for conduct. There were many other situations and organizations, such as guilds, that required self-control. The possession of manners was a way to distinguish between levels of society. Although it did not challenge the structure of society, it seemed to gather those who knew how to act gracefully into an exclusive group. Grace was not only limited to daily High Renaissance life, but extended to art as well. The crucial feature in Vasari¹s theory of art was the existence of this new quality, la grazia. Although the word had been interchangeable with beauty for a long time, Vasari gave it a new function. Unlike beauty, which, for him, depended on rules, grace was beyond description. He never fully defines it in Lives. It is usually contrasted with the serious and majestic; it describes the sweetness of Raphael much better than the grandeur of Leonardo. While Quattrocento artists like Piero della Francesca and Paolo Uccello were most concerned with exactness, Vasari valued the later High Renaissance artists for concealing the labor put into their work. ³Any trace of laboriousness, any evidence that the artist has sweated over his work will destroy the grace of a painting.² In one way, Vasari approved of careful study. In another, he disapproved. This conflict is similar to the paradoxical nature of sprezzatura. The artist must diligently learn in order to become efficient; he must practice until his work becomes easy. The actual painting must reveal none of the skill and effort on which it is based. Grace results from this recklessness, this sprezzatura, this bold and rapid execution. Uccello¹s Battle of San Romano is too stiff, too rigid; it is obvious that the artist carefully constructed the scene. Vasari tells us that Piero often made models, clothed them in drapery, and studied them for hours to determine how light fell on the folds. His shortcoming, in terms of sprezzatura, is allowing the hours of diligent observation to manifest themselves in his work. In the Resurrection, his careful, deliberate style turns Christ to stone. Only if the effort had seemed to be effortless would this painting have been successful in Vasari¹s eyes. The notions of grace and sprezzatura are associated with mannerism. One of the connotations of mannerism is ³mannered,² which means theatrical, dramatic. When described this way, mannerism does not fit well into the conception of grace. In ³Maniera as an Aesthetic Ideal,² John Shearman explains that two ideas of mannerism existed in the sixteenth century. One easily fit into the rest of graceful Renaissance life, while the other, the traditional idea, seemed imposed upon it. The usual notion refers to Pontormo and similar artists of about 1520, whose new style was a reaction to and a revolt against previous High Renaissance artistic concepts. They depict unbalanced, disproportionate scenes and indicate an extreme self-consciousness. However, Shearman¹s theory is that the true meaning of the word maniera arose from a different kind of artist, who evolved from previous ideas instead of revolting against them. This maniera was more graceful, less tense, than the usual conception of mannerism. There were two currents of art in the sixteenth century: the well-known group of Pontormo and another, graceful group working at the same time. Maniera is usually defined as ³style.² However, it also has an absolute usage: it can be used to describe someone who ³has style.² ³The positive qualities of style are surely a certain poise, cultured elegance, refinement, and perfection of performance; the negative qualities are unnaturalness, affectation, self-consciousness, and ostentation.² It seems that Castiglione was a source of inspiration for this group of mannerists, for the inclusion of performance and the absence of affectation in their style relate closely to sprezzatura. The fields of art and society began to overlap. Castiglione cites examples of art in The Book of the Courtier, and an artist was even present at the fictitious Urbino discussions. Vasari¹s way of using the term grazia, in his Lives, is borrowed from Castiglione. ³Maniera, from being an attribute of people, became applied to a similar quality desirable in works of art.² Shearman believed that mannerism was not a reaction against the High Renaissance, but was a part it; instead of a revolt, it came into being easily and naturally. Perino del Vaga and Pontormo depict the two contrasting conceptions of mannerism. Perino¹s Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand takes Raphael¹s notion of group painting and makes it even more formalized, structured and poised than the School of Athens. There is no emotion on any faces; it is concealed to create characters that seem noble and unfazed. ³Every form is shaped by an ideal, and fundamentally by the same set of values.² This set of values reflects those in the Book of the Courtier . The figures show the ideal of composure. In contrast, Pontormo¹s painting of the same subject is dynamic, passionate. He pushes the limits of affectation, as if he has taken sprezzatura to the extreme, causing it to self-destruct. Shearman¹s maniera was a part of all aspects of sixteenth century Italian life. In Maniera and the Mannaia: Decorum and Decapitation in the Sixteenth Century, Samuel Edgerton extends the ideas style and poise all the way to the practice of public execution. Capital punishment was just as much an artful performance as any other action. Not only did the art of the period, such as the sweet St. George and the Dragon by Raphael, insist on style in depicting matters of violence, but the violence itself was sweetened. The Renaissance adapted medieval content to the gracefulness of classical style. ³Thus, an essential quality of maniera was the attempt of sheer style to make agreeable even the most unsavory of subjects, to make what was substantially ugly not only palatable but even inventively fascinating and beautiful.² The high style of the executioners and artists functioned to separate the public from actual physical violence. The proper condemned man faced decapitation with total composure, acting as if there were no terrified thoughts in his mind. Victims had to express sprezzatura to the extreme; when their lives were about to be terminated, they were expected to act in an unruffled manner. Raphael was the most significant painter of sprezzatura. Castiglione¹s depiction of the Court of Urbino was used to sum up the ideals which characterized the Renaissance, and he used Raphael as an example: ³To do it justice, [Castiglione] needed the manner of Raphael; for Raphael, who had painted so many of its courtiers and who was himself a son of Urbino, had caught the quintessence of that society in a manner whose mellow elegance --so deceptively simple, so nobly mediocre--was the sublimation of the normal, the pink of its perfection.² Raphael¹s portrait, Baldassare Castiglione, displays the courtier as the epitome of sprezzatura. The count was a close friend of Raphael¹s, and, in this portrait, he shows the inner calm that was essential for a decorous gentleman. The subdued colors of his costume emphasize his restraint. Another painting, St. George and the Dragon, was painted by Raphael and given to Castiglione in 1504. The slayer shows an innocent composure, and even the horse does not appear to be unsettled about the situation. In battle, as in an execution, the perfect courtier remained cool. Because sprezzatura is related to the grace of antiquity, the contrapposto pose is a solid artistic example of the word. Ancient Greek statues are the aesthetic models for sprezzatura; figures like Doryphorus show the body animated, yet at rest. The counterbalancing of muscles were carefully studied, but the statue itself looks calmly poised. Although they were careful studies in geometry, they seem natural, not forced. The effort that the artist expended in creation is only apparent in the perfection of the final piece. The metopes of the Parthenon in Athens, which illustrate the battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs, contain calm and collected men at the moment of death. Just as sixteenth century criminals were graceful at the execution block, these mythical men of antiquity did not let their true emotions show when they faced death at the hands of beasts. Donatello¹s St. Mark represented the first time that the grace of antiquity is recaptured. The figure casually holds a book at his side, calm, but ready to move. His pose is very similar to the figure of Aristotle in Raphael¹s School of Athens. He also stands with a book, next to Plato, in contrapposto. Although he is deliberate, he is not blatantly so. The primacy of Raphael resulted from the ascension of Leo X to the papacy in 1513. The pope had a critical role in promoting sprezzatura; pleasure became a large part of his policy. He is reported to have said, ³God gave us the papacy, so let us enjoy it!² He perceived that the development of Italian genius was towards art, rather than politics or religion. He spent his money to beautify Rome and recruit the most talented artists in the region. The pope was easy-going, and loved luxury. He couldn¹t deal with the violence of Michelangelo, so the commissions for the Vatican went chiefly to Raphael and others who could work in his style. Under Leo X, Raphael rose to an unprecedented level of power in the world of art. The pope dropped the aggressive political policy of Julius II, instead concentrating on pleasure, relaxation and socialization. ³The furia of Julius was over and with it went the terribilità of Michelangelo....In Rome, his place was taken by Raphael of Urbino, whose graceful facility Leo appreciated. In art he loved ease and charm; life was strenuous enough, and much too harsh.² While Piero and Uccello departed from the idea of grace in their stiffness and deliberation, Michelangelo departed from it in his strength and passion. Comparing his Moses with the calm of Raphael¹s figures in The School of Athens reveals why the pope preferred Raphael¹s mildness. Although Leonardo flourished in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, before the style of sprezzatura was very widespread, he was essential in beginning to depict it. His Theory of Decorum stated that the gestures that a figure makes must show his feelings and be appropriate to age, rank and position. ³Observe Decorum, that is to say the suitability of action, dress, setting and circumstances to the dignity or lowliness of the things which you wish to present....Let the movements of an old man not be like those of a youth, nor those of a woman like those of a man, nor those of a man like those of a child.² His theory indicates a conscious, deliberate act. In painted figures, as in human beings, all actions must fit the situation and the audience. His Last Supper is an illustration of the careful gestures. Although Leonardo carefully planned each reaction, correlating it to its appropriate figure, the effect is not obvious. Each movement seems natural and fitting. In both art and society, grace and sprezzatura were closely related. The figures depicted in paintings and statues, the artists who painted them, and the real courtiers who served as models all strove to the same end by the same means. They wanted to live and act by a challenging, paradoxical standard. While concerned with appearance and effect more than true substance, they wanted to give the impression of being genuine. They were careful manipulators; their highest goal was to fool their audiences. Although they were performers, they acted according to noble virtues. Grace, a combination of Greek and Christian values, was the ideal they desired. If they did not possess it naturally, they learned it, and, through sprezzatura, convinced others that it was natural. A split in High Renaissance life formed between the aristocrats who knew the secret, and the rest of the society, which was fooled. There was a public for whom the spectacle of art or acting was destined, but the purpose was invisible to them. The true appeal of sprezzatura was to those men and artists who had the skill, who could both perform and appreciate the behavior of others. Bibliography: Blunt, Anthony: Artistic Theory in Italy 1450-1600 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1962) Castiglione, Baldassarre: The Book of the Courtier (translated into English by Sir Thomas Hoby anno 1561; London, D. Nutt, 1900) Edgerton, Samuel: ³Maniera and the Mannaia: Decorum and Decapitation in the Sixteenth Century,² in The Meaning of Mannerism (University Press of New England, New Hampshire, 1972) Hale, John: The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance (Harper Collins, London, 1993) Hartt, Frederick: History of Italian Renaissance Art (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1987) Henning, Roslyn Brogue: ³The Paideia of a Renaissance Gentleman: Castiglione¹s Book of the Courtier,² in Renaissance Men and Ideas (St. Martin¹s Press, New York, 1971) Roeder, Ralph: The Man of the Renaissance (The Viking Press, New York, 1933) Plumb, J.H.: The Italian Renaissance (Harper and Row, New York, 1961) Saccone, Eduardo: ³Grazia, Sprezzatura, Affettazione in the Courtier,² in Castiglione: The Ideal and the Real in Renaissance Culture (Yale University Press, New Haven, 1983) Shearman, John: ³Maniera as an Aesthetic Ideal,² in Renaissance Art (Harper and Row, New York, 1970)
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