Page 48 - Critical and Cultural Theory

RHETORIC
of disciplines and registers. However, the Renaissance could not
adopt Classical ideals without somehow modifying them so that
they would be compatible with its own cultural and ideological
circumstances. Thus, in incorporating the lessons of ancient
Greece and Rome into its own fabric, the Renaissance had to
make certain adjustments. In the field of rhetoric, specifically, this
meant that the qualities of the Classical orator must be retained,
and that a truly accomplished person must be no less eclectic,
persuasive and artful than his/her Greek and Roman predecessors.
Nevertheless, certain crucial differences between Classical and
Renaissance milieus must be taken into account. The Classical
orator was very much a public figure - performing in open spaces
for the benefit of varied and often non-specialist audiences - and
rhetoric was, accordingly, a public art. (Indeed, the term rhetor
refers to a 'speaker in the assembly'.) The Renaissance type
expected to excel at rhetoric, by contrast, was the courtier - the
product of elaborate rituals dictated by etiquette handbooks no
less than by academic training. Unlike Classical orators, Renais-
sance courtiers deployed their rhetorical skills within private
circles of experts and connoisseurs. Moreover, this private world
was, more often than not, a nest of intrigue and deception.
Whereas in Classical times the orator was praised for his
claritas - i.e. the ability to convey complicated arguments lucidly
and persuasively so as to enlighten his audience - in the Renais-
sance adaptation of Classical rhetoric, illumination was to be
achieved by circuitous means, by enveloping the message in as
many layers of verbal complexity and in as many dark conceits as
humanly possible. Furthermore, the courtier had to exhibit the
virtue of sprezzatura (from the Italian 'sprezzare' or 'disprezzare',
namely 'to scorn', 'to dismiss'). That is, he had to appear not to
care about his rhetorical skills and was required to come across
as artless even as he was exploiting his talent to the highest
degree. The courtier must be a good orator, master many arts,
display polished social manners and know how to handle diplo-
matically the court's personal and political plots. The main
quality he was expected to develop was dissimulation. Living in
an environment given to subterfuge and backstabbing, he had to
learn how to establish prudential relationships with both princes
and peers. Dissimulation became a principal rhetorical skill: it
meant being able to produce complex images and to convey them

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