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This course aims at analyzing the process of "creation" of the male Courtier through the close reading of Baldassarre Castiglione's IL CORTEGIANO, which was by far one of the bestselling books in the Western world up to the 1600s. Courtly culture was developed and formalized at the highest levels in Renaissance Italy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, to become a model for all Europe in subsequent centuries. On the other hand, the figure of the female Courtesan, poet and whore, literata and entertainer, grew to be a fascinating and repulsive subject of many dialogic and dramatic treatments, especially by the powerful "pen-prince" Pietro Aretino. The interaction of style and culture which courtier and courtesan are two characters, at once idealized and all too real, played with each other will be studied with the aid of contemporary paintings and prints (from high-brow to popular, early erotic productions).
COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion
Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RLAN Grading Mode: Graded
Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-30-2006
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