ABSTRACT
Baldassare Castiglione's Libro del cortegiano was first published in Venice in 1528 after years of revision, and became one of the most popular books in sixteenth-century Europe. This chapter examines Baldassare Castiglione's place in the text as actor, in prefatory letters and as a masked character disguised in the debate of his company of distinguished interlocutors, and argues that Castiglione's sprezzatura, a masterful lightness of touch, covers his starring role in the work. It investigates Il Cortegiano as a piece of theatre, and examines the extent to which it is respectful of rules of Renaissance drama such as the dramatic unities. Castiglione's interest in the latter was surely influenced by his experience with the former. In the proemio to Don Michel de Silva and the letters to Alfonso Ariosto opening each of the four books that make up Il Cortegiano, Castiglione appears in his work in person, seemingly more author than actor.
