Itallian Renaissance (Boccacio's "Decameron")

Introduction

What makes a man is a discussion that draws special attention to the details of men’s lifestyle during the renaissance era to figure out their position in the society. To achieve this interpretation of the perception of men, it is important to focus on matters such as how men were looked upon and the activities they were expected to undertake. Of particular interest in this paper will be focus on men in relation to power, loyalty and sexuality. These three areas analyze almost every aspect of a man livelihood and hence determine his position in the society. Some of the tools used by authors to represent men in the 14th century are such as the armor as discussed by Springer.

From Springer’s Armor and Masculinity in the Italian Renaissance, the armor is examined to portray the various position held by men in early modern Italy. It served as both a cultural artifact and was also symbolic. In the sixteenth century, the armor was no longer paraded as a proof for battle but rather a ceremonial dress. Although it was displaced from its utilitarian use of defense, the armor was retained for symbolic purposes. It took a new direction to be used as a medium of artistic expression. The main reason that the armor began to disappear from the battlefields was the advancements in military technology and tactics. Instead, the armor took a role as a chief accessory in the performance of elite male identity. It bore various coded messages regarding the owner’s genealogy, social status, and political alliances. This evolution highlights the transition of man from heroism to fashion. The armor’s role advances from providing protection to being worn as a fashion statement for aesthetics purposes. The only value that it now provides is recognition. This source will be used to delve further into the research question on what makes a man. The Italian renaissance and a look at the armor, a gear synonymous with men, will be used when seeking insight into the research question (Springer, 2010). During the Italian Renaissance, men were known to be “noble” and “warrior like,” while at the same time being “emotional” and even in certain circumstances in touch with their feminine side. Although many may find these ideas conflicting, this overall “vision of man” showed how these differences created a huge physical and emotional power struggle between men in 15th and 16th century Italy.

The intended use of the armor was to protect soldiers on the battlefield against stabs to the body and other archaic related injuries. The design of the armor indicates that it was specifically meant for men, and thus, it would be right to regard it as a representation for masculinity. During its initial design, the armor was worn in battlefields. This shows that men were considered to offer protection and thus used the armor to facilitate their role. Besides being used by warlords, the usage by Francesco signified two things; political foundations and an epic hero. These illustrations further depict the role of men in leadership and serving justice in the society. Attendants wore Roman armors in court processions. In this case, the armor was an indication of the presence of men in the justice systems. The armor later came to be a costume of the princes who preferred to be having the versions of the plate armor. For the most of the renaissance in Europe, the armor was developed in areas of arms such as Augsburg and Nuremberg (Springer, 2010).

The author, Springer, view the armor in three lights. These are the classical body, the sacred body and the grotesque. The classical body is represented in the form of a nude masculine torso. The armor as Springer states is anatomically explicit in each detail represented including musculature ears, lips, and beard. Besides the vestigial defensive function, the armor signifies the completion and perfection of the body. The second type is the sacred body. It is also referred as the armor of sacrifices that show the transcendence of the body rather than the completeness of the body. This armor establishes identification with Christ. The inscriptions on this type of armor do not only allude to biblical accounts but also episodes in the lives of the saints that demonstrate the theme of a miraculous body. The third kind, The Grotesque Body, represents distortion or mutilation of the human body. It also contains a demonic mask and a zoomorphic imagery to intimidate the enemy. The armor is the oldest of the three types and is used to represent the practice of body painting and scaring (Springer, 2010).

The three armor forms provide vital information concerning the role played by men in the society. It was used as a masquerade where the wearer disguises the imperfections of their body. This way, it represents the male in a heroic and aggrandized mode that reflects the diffused cultural memory. The armor also is used as compensation for the symbolic human level weakness among animals. Between the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, the armor evolved into a steel carapace that covered the entire body and served as an alter ego that promised both physical and spiritual protection. Besides the psychological power provided by the armor, it also served as an expression of the technological imagination that was uniquely human. In their design thus, man is also seen as an innovator that sought to come up with better versions of the armor after every release. Knights also believed that their armor would take their place in battle transforming them into an invincible hero. Sculptures in Madrid of a young boy and a mature man indicate that men were also guardians. The sculptures could also portray men as being role models in the society and thus their depiction with the young generation (Springer, 2010).

The iron works of creating this armors are the other historical hint of the role played by men in the society. Developing the metallic armors is an art that requires skill and detail in development. The level of detail in most of the armors discussed by Springer indicate that men were also artistic. The various forms of the armor represented in the three categories mentioned earlier represent the diverse skills present during the 14th and 15th centuries. Using the knowledge of the male anatomy, the artisan managed to create costumes that promised men of protection both physical and psychological. The fact that the armors were made to emulate the masculine anatomy and used as a form intimidation shows that men represented bravery. The evolution to the full body armor worn by knights made them feel invincible goes to demonstrate the amount of power that was attached to masculinity (Springer, 2010).

The opaque nature of the armor represents the earthly nature of men whereby they have a closed individuality that does not link with other bodies and the world. The perfection of the classical body shows the completion of the elite male subject. Men are also insecure with their present bodily form and thus opts to wearing a body armor to conceal their current state. The athletic prowess depicted by the classical thorax represents the fitness of the aristocratic male subject. It also represented the prowess in war. The armor was used to reinscribe the boundaries of a male body in a society where sexual penetration was considered demeaning and thus it served as a reminder of male dignity. It was used in the political scene to deflect sexual ambiguity. These applications go to show the political significance of male in ancient leadership (Springer, 2010).

Men were also sensitive about their looks, and this led to them putting on armors to disguise their natural flows. The use of armors as a form of fashion statement also indicate the level of machos in men as they strive to look good but try to do it in a costume associated with heroism. Where armors were worn by princes was a representation of royalty. The armor could not only be used as a shield but also was a preserve for the powerful in the society. The sacred body form of the armor takes away the heroic appeal of the classical thorax to represent martyrdom. This armor is an indication that men were religious and used armor to show the kind of belief they had. The violation of the body seen in the sacred body armor represented the price one has to pay for redemption. Men used the armor to express their commitment to Christ and as a form of commitment to religion. Some armors bore the names of their owners rendered as a monogram. Such inscriptions were only found on expensive armors that would indicate a person’s class. On other armors, the inscriptions contained poetry while others were derived from the gospels. The numerous biblical inscriptions found on armors are proof that men exercised humility and went beyond human pride to believe in a supreme being (Springer, 2010).

The transition from the 14th to the 15th century is considered as a time filled with big and decisive changes. Most of the changes experienced were as a result of the efforts of men such as Vergerio and Guarino of northern Italy. This notion brings out men as shapers of the society as leaders. The contribution of men in the Renaissance gave rise to the classicism and lead to the modification of the material frame where the ideas of Trecento had developed. Besides, men have also had close links to power force that is behind some the transformation during the renaissance (Baron, 1993)

The depiction of men as being noble and warrior like is seen from the works of Springer and Baron. However, men are not all about heroism. According to Decameron, they participated in story telling also telling tales that ranged from erotic to tragic. Both authors highlight events during the Italian Renaissance where men were evidently concerned with the power play. Baron talks about the changes experienced in most parts of Italy during the time that had impacts on humanism at a time when a new civic culture was experiencing growth. The author does not provide much on sexuality, but this is well covered in Springer’s discussion about armors. Despite their role in royalty and serving as a symbol of authority, the armor contained plenty of the anatomical masculine features. The armor was also used as sexual control whereby it emphasized the boundaries of the male body in a society where sex was regarded as demeaning. The two sources therefore provide evidence of the both extremes of a man being both noble and heroic. In Petrach’s poems about Laura exposes the softer side of men that is concealed in their quest to appear heroic in armors and in leadership endeavors.

References

Baron, H. (1993). The crisis of the early Italian Renaissance. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Springer, C. (2010). Armour and masculinity in the Italian Renaissance. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.