CASTIGLIONE, BALDASSARE

(1478-1529)

Italian author and diplomat, best known for hisIl cortegiano The Courtier, first published inVenicein 1528, a work that greatly influenced Renaissance culture. Castiglione was born in Casàtico, near Mantua, where his family served as soldiers and administrators to the Mantuan court. After completing his humanistic education, he entered in the service ofLudovico"il Moro"Sforza, ruler of Milan, where he remained until 1499, the year his father died. He returned to Mantua briefly to work for FrancescoGonzaga, but soon moved to the court of Guidobaldo daMontefeltro, Duke of Urbino. In 1513, Guidobaldo's successor, Francesco Mariadella Roveremade Castiglione a count and sent him toRomeas his ambassador. It is there that he metRaphaelwho in 1516 painted Castiglione's famed portrait (Paris, Louvre). In 1524, PopeClement VIIsent Castiglione to Spain to the court ofCharles V, but when in 1527 Charles' troopssacked Romeand imprisoned the pope, the mortified Castiglione's health deteriorated and he died in Toledo two years later. Written in the form of a philosophical discussion,Il cortegianopresents a portrayal of the court of Urbino and offers advice on the proper conduct of courtiers. For Renaissance readers, it became the standard manual for aristocratic manners. For the modern reader, it offers a glimpse of Renaissance court life.