page_title: Sprezzatura
section_title: Examples in Renaissance art
hierarchical_section_title: Sprezzatura / Examples in Renaissance art
context_page_description: Sprezzatura is an Italian word that first appears in Baldassare Castiglione's 1528 The Book of the Courtier, where it is defined by the author as "a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it". It is the ability of the courtier to display "an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them". Sprezzatura has also been described "as a form of defensive irony: the ability to disguise what one really desires, feels, thinks, and means or intends behind a mask of apparent reticence and nonchalance".
  The word has entered the English language; the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "studied carelessness", especially as a characteristic quality or style of art or literature.
context_section_description: Raphael as an artist exemplified sprezzatura from the beginning of his career, starting with his first signed work The Marriage of the Virgin. "Inspired by his teacher Perugino's rendering of the same subject, Raphael's painting can be found to differ primarily from its model by its unique awareness of the importance of sprezzatura."
  Raphael's painting reveals its awareness of the importance of sprezzatura through his representation of Joseph. Compared to Raphael's more youthful representation of Joseph, Perugino's version of Joseph is considerably more idealized and older. Perugino's Joseph, despite his almost cloying sweetness in contrast to earlier depictions by other artists, retains a certain hardness of profile and angularity which Raphael has avoided by softening the anatomy of facial features and breaking the rigid profile ever so slightly.
  Additionally, "the poses and garments of the two also reveal a subtle transformation which reflects the same deliberate alteration of attitude." For instance, the gracefulness of Perugino's Joseph is "emphasized by the highlighting of drapery and body. The easy S-like movement from ear to right toe is inescapably obvious." On the other hand, the grace displayed by Raphael's Joseph "is equally great but perhaps more affecting since the manner of its expression is less obvious."
  Joseph's posture demonstrates an understated grace, since his slight turn toward the viewer tends to conceal the easy flow of line which characterizes the figure overall while he introduces any number of linear rhythms in the garment subordinate to the main movement of the figure. These variations, in addition to the deliberate avoidance of any dramatic highlights, help to explain why it is that we feel the "nonchalance" of Raphael's Joseph in contrast to the almost hieratic frozen grace of Perugino's. In the former we can detect that quality which Castiglione had in mind when he wrote: "Therefore we may call that art true at which does not seem to be art."
  Sprezzatura is a major feature of Mannerist art and sculpture, particularly the bella maniera school, in which the artist synthesized the best attributes from various sources into a new design. Sprezzatura emphasized virtuosic effects that were displayed with apparent ease and facility. Cellini's Perseus would be an excellent example.
caption: Marriage of the Virgin (1500-1504) by Perugino
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