The Book of the Courtier, by Count Baldesar Castiglione

INTERLOCUTORS

ELISABETTA GONZAGA, wife of Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. Aged 46.
EMILIA PIA, friend and companion of the Duchess, and widow of the Duke’s half-brother. Aged about 30.
MARGARITA GONZAGA, young niece and companion of the Duchess.
COSTANZA FREGOSA, young half-niece of the Duke.
FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE, nephew and adopted heir of the Duke. Aged 17.
Count LUDOVICO DA CANOSSA, a kinsman of the author, afterwards made Bishop of Bayeux. aged 31.
FEDERICO FREGOSO, half-nephew of the Duke, afterwards made a cardinal. Aged 27.
GIULIANO DE’ MEDICI, an exile from Florence, known at Urbino as “My lord Magnifico,” and afterwards made Duke of Nemours. Aged 29.
BERNARDO DOVIZI, better known as BIBBIENA, an adherent of the Medici, afterwards made a cardinal. Aged 37.
OTTAVIANO FREGOSO, elder brother of Costanza and Federico, afterwards Doge of Genoa.
PIETRO BEMBO, a Venetian scholar and poet, afterwards made a cardinal. Aged 37.
CESARE GONZAGA, a kinsman of the Duchess, and cousin as well as close friend of the author. Aged about 32.
BERNARDO ACCOLTI, better known as the UNICO ARETINO, a courtier-poet and popular extemporizer. Aged about 42.
Count GASPAR PALLAVICINO. Aged 21.
GIANCRISTOFORO ROMANO, a sculptor, medallist, etc. Aged about 42.
COLLO VINCENZO CALMETA, a courtier-poet.
LUDOVICO PIO, a brave young soldier, and kinsman of Emilia Pia.
SIGISMONDO MORELLO DA ORTONA, an elderly courtier.
Fra SERAFINO, a jester.

Time: March 1507.

Place: The Palace of Urbino.

FRANCESCO MARIA DELLA ROVERE.
DUKE OF URBINO
1490-1538

Reduced from Braun’s photograph (no. 40.605) of the portrait, in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence, by Titian (1477-1576).