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The Renaissance Italian Court

Franciscus Bossinensis and Bartolomeo Tromboncino,
Ricercar e frottola: "Non peccando altri ch'el core"
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The fifteenth century was the era of the court in Renaissance Italy. For principalities and cities ruled by lords, the court served as the expression of the power, good sense, and style of the prince. It was as much the location where the work of government took place as the lord's tool for self-advertisement. A large, well-attended, and glamorous court was a testimony to the resources that the prince or lord could draw upon. It could attract supporters and overawe potential enemies.

 
The Palace at Urbino.
The Palace at Urbino.
The Courtier is staged as a series of imaginary conversations taking place in the palace in March 1507.

Courtyard (Cortile d'onore) of the Palazzo Ducale, Urbino.
Courtyard of the Palace at Urbino.

Dance music: Pavana "La cornetta" (anon)
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Listening room call number: CD 498r

According to one historian of the Renaissance, "luxurious ostentation at the courts was a display of power." The primary display of "luxurious ostentation" was the number of people in attendance on the prince. Urbino was the smallest of the important courts. Nevertheless, with nobles in attendance, and courtiers and court ladies, lawyers and other skilled servitors, soldiers, servants, and attendants, some 500 people were more or less permanently attached to the court.

Princely patronage--of courtiers, artists and scholars--was also a form of ostentatious display and an advertisement of power. Princes sought to attach the most prestigious artists and humanists to their courts. Works of art testified to the good taste of the prince. They often spoke to the prince's power as well, depicting him as a conqueror, as a majestic figure, or surrounded by his favorites. Scholars wrote of his importance. Courtiers urged the prince to, as one scholar put it, "grab what he could, [and] to bestow favors and graces."

View from a Palace window out into the Countryside.
View from a Palace window out into the Countryside.

Baldasare Castiglione.
Baldassare Castiglione
(1478-1529)
Raphael, Prob. 1514-15, canvas.

The rewards, particularly for a few favorites, could be enormous. The costs of angering the prince could be great too. The Duke of Mantua was so angry at Castiglione for leaving his court for Urbino, that Castiglione had to avoid Mantua for several years!

Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro.
Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and his son Guidobaldo da Montefeltro.
Federico built the magnificent palace at Urbino, and made the court and the city a center of culture and patronage. He is shown here as both soldier and scholar, dressed in armor and reading a book, to celebrate both his humanistic and military achievements. On the left is Federico's young son Guidobaldo. Guidobaldo was duke during the first part of the twelve year period Castiglione served at the court (1504-1516). It was life in the court palace of Urbino under Guidobaldo and his wife Elisabetta Gonzaga that Castiglione memorializes in The Courtier.

 

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