ARTH 4440 - Constructing the Self in the Sixteenth Century

(HB) (HA-AS)

Spring. 4 credits.

Co-meets with ARTH 6440.

C. Lazzaro.

This seminar examines issues of identity in the 16th century in early modern Europe, especially Italy. Masculinity was particularly an anxiety in a period preoccupied by gender roles, social class distinctions, and political power. Courtesy manuals, most famous by Castiglione and della Casa, instructed in “civility,” and reflected the concern with manners, appearance, and the ideal characteristics of grace and sprezzatura. The self was fashioned or constructed in portraits, self-portraits, and autobiographies, as well as through clothing, bearing, gesture, manners, speech, and the display of material goods. The self was also performed in public and private settings, among them banquets and studies. In a time of internationalism in consumer goods and a fascination with dress throughout the world, identity also negotiated between familiar and foreign.