Sprezzatura
THE ART OF EFFORTLESSNESS
BY MELVILLE HOLMES
“Whence one may say that art is true art which does not appear to be art; nor should one strive for any other art except
to conceal art for if it is discovered, it quite destroys our credit and brings us into small esteem.”
Baldassare Castiglione
Il Libro del Cortegiano 1528
In Michelangelo’s Theory of Art (1961),
Renaissance scholar Robert J. Cle-
ments sought to piece together the
great artist’s thought on art by means
of the slim evidence contained in his
few writings and words and ideas at-
tributed to him by others. One theme
therein is described in this way, “This
is what one has most to labor for…in
creating works of painting…to do the
work that it may appear, although la-
bored over a great deal, as if it had
been done almost hurriedly and al-
most without any work, and quite ef-
fortlessly, even though this is not the
case.” 1
Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529)
promoted a very similar concept in
his widely circulated book about the
qualities “most befitting a gentleman
who lives at the court of princes.” In
his Book of the Courtier he stated. “I
find one universal rule…which seems
to me worth more in this matter than
any other…and that is to avoid affec-
tation to the uttermost…and, to use
possibly a new word, to practice in
everything a certain sprezzatura (or
“nonchalance”) that shall conc