The words, the gestures, the cloths
The modern gentleman, as defined and hoped for by Castiglione in The Cortegiano, is not only a capable and courageous professional of war, but also a refined diplomat, at ease in conversations and in the various relationships of life. It follows that in the course of the work much space is dedicated to the proposal of a series of indications aimed at favouring him in his interpersonal relationships.
Above all, the first book problematically analyses the question of language: how must the perfect gentleman of court speak and write? Ludovico di Canossa, the author’s mouth piece, sustains the continuity between spoken language and written language, though bearing in mind that writing implies greater care and attention. Then he launches into a eulogy of the evolution of language, that renders inopportune the use of archaic words, now out of use, tolerating, on the other hand, the use of those foreign words that had by now become commonly accepted. A gentleman will also always have to aim for precision and clarity: avoiding both gross and pedestrian styles, and also styles that are too researched and affected, that make communication difficult.
Language is a fundamental element of social and civil life: on its good use depends the success of a gentleman. The same approach is adopted in the second book of the Cortegiano to discuss two interconnected problems: gestures and clothes. How must the perfect gentleman of court move? How must he dress? Castiglione, through the character of Federico Fregoso, recommends prudence and caution. A gentleman should speak little and present a stable impression of himself, not exhibit his skills everywhere and with everyone, renounce any petulant or arrogant behaviour. Regarding clothes, Baldassarre remarks that nobody can stop others form judging them by how they look: therefore, the gentleman of court must take care that his clothes are not the result of eccentric, extravagant and not thought through choices, and that they correspond to his personal interior identity. Castiglione, when it comes to clothes, did not approve of anarchy: he stressed the importance of not straying too far from fashion, though accepting free personal inclinations.
