'The by-product of the courtier's performance is that the achievement of sprezzatura may require him to deny or disparage his nature'. Wescott states that Sprezzatura was, in a way, 'the art of acting deviously', an 'art' that created a 'self-fulfilling culture of suspicion' because courtiers had to be diligent in maintaining their faГ§ades. Howard Wescott and other scholars have also noted the negative aspects of making difficult tasks seem effortless, namely, that in practice, sprezzatura involved an ability to trick people convincingly. Of its virtues, Castiglione wrote 'The great virtue of sprezzatura is that it implies a greatness unseen, a potential implicit in its very subtleties and flaws, a strength held in reserve.' In Rebhorn's opinion, a courtier's sprezzatura made him seem to be fully at ease in court and like someone who was 'the total master of self, society's rules, and even physical laws, and the distinct impression that he unable to err'.

According to Professor Wayne Rebhorn, courtiers essentially had to put on a performance for their peers and those who employed sprezzatura created the impression that they completely mastered the roles they played. Sprezzatura was a vital quality for a courtier to have. In his view, this quality was inherent to the Spanish nobleman as opposed to the French nobleman, who he considered more 'presumptuous'. Д¬astiglione was generally an admirer of sprezzatura, and considered it an essential attribute in becoming the ideal courtier. I have found quite a universal rule which in this matter seems to me valid above all other, and in all human affairs whether in word or deed: and that is to avoid affectation in every way possible as though it were some rough and dangerous reef and (to pronounce a new word perhaps) to practice in all things a certain sprezzatura, so as to conceal all art and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.

Concerning sprezzatura, Castiglione said: However, the courtier who had sprezzatura managed to make these difficult tasks look easy вЂ“ and, more to the point, not appear calculating, a not-to-be-discounted asset in a milieu commonly informed by ambition, intrigue, etc. The ideal courtier was supposed to be skilled in arms and in athletic events but be equally skilled in music and dancing. Set in his native Duchy of Urbino, the book runs as several conversations held between courtiers of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. During his stay in Spain as Ambassador of the Holy See (1524-1529), and inspired by the Spanish court, Castiglione wrote The Book of the Courtier as a portrayal of an idealized courtier-one who could successfully keep the support of his ruler.

Effortless opposite