Monday, April 28, 2008

The reading from King takes us to the late Renaissance in Italy, a far cry from the era of civic humanism in Florence. The overall tone seems to be one of decadence, of a society that has exhausted its ideals. There seem in her account not only to be forces of decay at work, however, but also forces of renewal. What new influences and priorities emerged during this time?

We can easily imagine that Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) is a sign not of renewal but of exhaustion. The portrait given in our textbook reflects a mature man in luxurious clothing, with a steady gaze radiating self-confidence. At right there is an earlier portrait, revealing him in a pensive moment. Aretoino spent most of his adult life in Venice, and the excerpts you read here reflect something of the life of that city.

Aretino is called by some people a literary hanger-on, one who gained a reputation by virtue of letters of both flattery and blackmail. He wrote in Italian, but unlike Dante, who was the first to use Italian as a literary language, his themes are not lofty reflections on ideal beauty and the spiritual life but rather glimpses into the less savory side of Renaissance culture. He perhaps reflects the kind of moral decay that Machiavelli regards as evidence of corruption, and yet we find in his letter to Simone Bianco praise for the "natural life." One of his talents is for evoking vivid sensory impressions from his verbal descriptions, which are much in evidence in this letter.

We have already encountered Michelangelo as an artist; here we see him in a different light, as he addresses a young nobleman 40 years his junior in terms that seem almost demeaning in their flattery. Tommaso Cavalieri was one of several people with whom Michelangelo exchanged passionate letters and poetry, and while his attraction to beautiful young men is well-documented, one of his correspondents was a powerful noblewoman, Vittoria Colonna whom he deeply admired. These writings are a source for our knowledge of his neo-Platonic approach to ideal beauty, which he attempted to realize in his art.

Finally we come to Guicciardini. This historian was a close friend of Machiavelli, and the parallels between the two should be obvious. Yet it would be a mistake to assume that their thoughts are identical. The questions below will give you a chance to ponder their relationship.

Presenter #1, answser the first three questions (Aretino); Presenter #2 answer the last three (Guicciardini). For homework, pick one or the other on which to write. Questions:

1. What is your reaction to Aretino? Would you describe him as antisocial? How does he defend himself in the first letter, to Messer Giannantonio da Foligno?
2. Compare the first full paragraph of Aretino's letter to Simone Bianco on p. 346 with Machiavelli's description of the end of his day in the letter to Francesco Vittori. Then, looking at the rest of the letter, observe the kinds of details on which Aretino seems to dwell. What, for example, is his opinion of family life?
3. What might be the role such a person as Aretino plays in society? Is it necessarily a destructive one?
4. Compare Guicciardini's approach in maxims 22 and 23 with Machiavelli's; also look at 30 and 31, to begin with. Over the course of the reading, where do you find common ground with Machiavelli, where divergence?
5. Guicciardini's Ricordi are aphorisms, brief notations, rather than an extensive treatise developing a theory and supporting it with evidence. Aphorisms lend themselves to making observations without necessarily prioritizing or reconciling them. What impression does this approach make on you?
6. Choose one aphorism in particular that interests you and comment on it.

Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: January 24, 2008

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