III - The Models

Summary

Abstract

European politics refashioned itself ideologically and symbolically by adhering to the Italian courtly models in a vast and consistent range of areas. Italian courts provided new space models revived from antiquity and the know-how of architects that were able to replicate it. The universe of images and the innovative iconographical language is equally important. But there is more, much more, from the performing arts to clothing fashion to the behavioral rules codified by Castiglione, Della Casa, and Guazzo, to the variegated field of aristocratic manners. All these new forms of consumption, social practices, and ethical values compose a mosaic that defines the profile of the European gentleman and that homogenizes its culture on a continental level.

Keywords: political symbolism, antiquity, iconography, manners, social practices