BALDASSARECASTIGLIONE (1478-1529), Italian diplomatist and man of letters, was born at Casanatico near Mantua, and was educated at Milan under the famous professors Merula and Chalcondyles.
Guidobaldo dying childless in 1508, the duchy of Urbino was given to Francesco Maria della Rovere, for whom Castiglione, envoy at the court of Leo X.
Castiglione had been tricked by the emperor, but there were not wanting accusations of treachery against himself.
Castiglione demanded, that one should preserve one's composure and self-control under all circumstances and behave in company with an unaffected nonchalance and effortless dignity.
Castiglione's later life was shadowed by the death of Raphael in 1520 and his failure as a diplomat.
What Castiglione demanded of the perfect man of the world was versatility, the uniform development of physical and spiritual capacities, skill both in the use of weapons and in the art of refined social intercourse, experience in the arts of poetry and music, familiarity with painting and the sciences.
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