Sunday, February 22, 2009

On Being a Gentleman


A Gentleman at Breakfast, 1775, attributed to Henry Walton

I have a great big book called The Compleat Gentleman by Geoffrey Beard and in it he quotes sixteenth century writer Baldassare Castiglione on "the attitudes of any gentleman: of not hurting the feelings of others, of not making making them feel inferior, of behaving with ease and grace, and of experiencing proper joy in the wonders of true love and service."

3 comments:

Mr. Peacock said...

Bravo Bart!

Lisa Borgnes Giramonti said...

Oh, I love this, and it goes for gentle ladies too! The picture is also divine.

Unknown said...

Sublime illustration. Gotta love the fashion of the nobles' in the 17th century. Thanks to the illustration, we could almost see how far fashion has come from the majestic wardrobes of the past, to the modern urbanwear.