I motivi di una scelta: Stefano Guazzo e il «Prencipe della Valacchia Maggiore» come modello morale per la corte
The Reasons of a Choice: Stefano Guazzo and “The Prince of Great Valachia” as an Etichal Model for the Court

Summary/Abstract: In his book Dialoghi piacevoli (1586), the humanist Stefano Guazzo devotes considerable space to the portrait of the prince of Wallachia Petru Cercel, who reigned between 1583 and 1585. Petru’s moral and physical portrait is the starting point for a discussion regarding the qualities of the ideal prince. Among the reasons for Guazzo’s choice of Petru as a model, which I’m discussing in the article, is the fact that Petru had all the qualities B. Castiglione had wanted for his ideal Renaissance courtier (Il Cortigiano, 1528), and these qualities Guazzo wishes a prince had too. I’ll analyse the relationship between the Italian humanists and the prince of Walachia by referring to Italian court poetry and to Renaissance dialogues.

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