Hamlet’s Ghost Vespasiano Gonzaga and his Ideal City James Cowan PhD Hon. (Grand Valley State University, USA) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2016 School of Communications and Arts Abstract The subject of my Creative Work is to write a creative biographical study of the life and times of Vespasiano Gonzaga, duke of Sabbioneta (1531-1591). Vespasiano was the representative of a small group of thinkers in Italy who aspired to becoming what was known as a l‘uomo universale. In doing so, the duke chose to build an Ideal City to embody his precepts. That city is Sabbioneta. The painting of an Ideal City in the museum of Urbino accentuated a desire on the part of many artists to realize the embodiment of civic order in a so-called Città ideale. It was a riposte to the disorder of the times. Mathematics played an important part in this new age of reason as a counterbalance to the unstable political circumstance of the age. Educated in Fondi and in Naples under the tutelage of Giulia Gonzaga, the duke was mentored by a true Renaissance woman much interested in new intellectual trends, in particular relating to the corruption of the Church and the rise of Protestantism in northern Europe. Her court in Fondi is a reminder to us of Eleanor of Aquitaine‘s in Southern France at an earlier time. Poets and philosophers were welcome at her table. Hamlet‘s Ghost brings to life the city of Sabbioneta as a ‗living museum‘ of those important ideas that motivated the duke. The book explores its buildings, galleria, mint, palace, and its churches, in order to highlight the nature of a Città ideale. The text also explores Vespasiano‘s links to Shakespeare, in particular to his play, Hamlet. Shakespeare used a book that had been written after a dinner in Monferrato Casale, namely La Civile conversatione, which Vespasiano attended. Many of his remarks at that dinner later turned up in Hamlet. The duke may well be Hamlet‘s model. Vespasiano Gonzaga‘s life reflects the changing ethos of the sixteenth-century, and its increasing introspection. The duke‘s personal circumstance was deeply affected by certain events of his youth, as well as his life-long battle with the painful effects of syphilis. His story is one that throws light on the transition from the Renaissance to modernity in that he was the first man in history to deliberately plan and build a city for himself, reflecting his own ideals. We are dealing with an important historical figure barely known to an English-speaking audience. Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains some material previously published in a book as ―Hamlet‘s Ghost, Vespasiano Gonzaga and his Ideal City‖ (see ‗Books‘). Otherwise there is no written work by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. Publications during candidature Essays Climate Change, a humanist response. Academia.edu Indigenous Tradition as Philosophy. Academia.edu A Prophet of Nature. Academia.edu The Greek Gods. Academia.edu Charting a New Global Philosophy. Academia.edu Vivant le Reve. L‘Ultreia Journal (Fra) On the Aboriginal Churinga. Academia.edu Living in the Post-Capitalist Age. Academia.edu. The Ethics of Dying. Academia.edu Myth and Modern Literature. Academia.edu Simone Weil‘s Journey through Fire. Academia.edu Books Fleeing Herod. Non-fiction. Paraclete Press (USA), 2014. Fuyant Herode. Non-fiction. Editions Hozhoni (Fra), 2015. Le Reve du Cartographe. Fiction. Editions Hozhoni (Fra), 2015. Hamlet‘s Ghost. Biography. Cambridge Scholars Press, 2015. Warrior‘s of Love. Non-fiction. Watkins Press (UK). Poetry Terra Nullius, Odes I - III. Cosmos Press, 2015. Terra Firma, Odes IV - VI. Cosmos Press, 2015. Temples of Love. Academia.edu, 2015. Terra Filius, Odes VII – IX. Cosmos Press, 2015. Italia Brava. Academia.edu, 2015. Publications included in this thesis No publications included. Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None. Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the Cecilia Sloane Scholarship Committee for providing funds for research undertaken in Italy in April 2014. I also wish to acknowledge my Department and the University of Queensland for providing funds to attend two overseas conferences, one on Climate Change in Turkey, the other on Humanism and the Arts, in Athens, in April 2015. I wish to acknowledge the support and advice that I have received from my supervisor, Dr Stuart Glover, as well as occasional advice from Dr Andrew Leach of Griffith University, and Dr Andrea Bubenik of the University of Queensland. I also wish to acknowledge the help that I received from Alberto Madidini from Sabbioneta, the Director of the local Historical Society, in Italy, for his tireless support over three years. Keywords Vespasiano Gonzaga, Ideal City, Italian history Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC) ANZSRC code: 190402, Creative Writing (including Playwriting), 100% Fields of Research (FoR) Classification FoR code: 1904, Performing Arts and Creative Writing, 100% Hamlet’s Ghost Vespasiano Gonzaga and his Ideal City A creative biography James Cowan Our entire linear and accumulative culture would collapse if we could not stockpile the past in plain view. To this end the Pharaohs must be brought out of their tombs, and the mummies out of their silence. —Jean Baudrillard It‘s good to have undeclared, unrecognized pathologies and mental illnesses in your stories. The countryside is full of undeclared pathologies. Unlike in the urban setting, there, mental affliction goes unrecognized. —W. G. Sebald CONTENTS Preface ………………. ………………...…. ………. 1 Part 1: The Ideal City 1. A Body of Evidence ............................... ………6 2. A Family Affair.................................................14 3. Towards Flanders……………………………..24 4. Myth of Metals………………………………..43 5. Soldier of Fortune……………………………..61 6. The Universal Man……………………………74 7. Building a City………………………………..88 Part 2: A Ducal Dream 8. Exile in the Kingdom………………………..101 9. Hall of Mirrors………………………………114 10. Homecoming……………………………….123 11. The Argonaut………………………………140 12. Behold, the Duke…………………………..151 13. Theatre of Life……………………………..164 14. Testament………………………………….177 15. Squaring the Circle………………………...187 16. The Legacy………………………………...193 Chronology…………………………………………212 Genealogical Tree…………………………………214 Appendix……………………………………………215 Acknowledgements………………………………..217 Bibliography……………………………………….221 PREFACE During the sixteenth century, Italy found itself heaving a collective sigh of relief after years of unending conflict. On the one hand, the century before had delivered unprecedented gains in terms of its reborn artistic and cultural life; on the other, the old political disjuncture and division remained ever present. The Papacy, the Spanish Crown, and the ambitions of France continued to war over the body politic of Italy‘s city states to the detriment of stability and common cause. No other country in Europe was so divided; and men of good intent, whether they were podesta, duke or pope, found it difficult to manage provincial conceits, wilful ambition or soldierly braggadocio, and so engage in developing a reasonably settled civic life. It is no wonder that the condottiere, or soldier of fortune, became a symbol of money and power in those years. The sword, it seems, had become the arbiter of law and fortune. It is a tribute, therefore, that a man such as Vespasiano Gonzaga, Duke of Sabbioneta, Fondi and Traetto, was able to find a way to negotiate these shoals and so fashion himself into a true uomo universale, or ―universal man,‖ as we shall see. That he did so as a minor duke of the Renaissance while contending with king, emperor and the designs of his own family politically suggest that he possessed both diplomatic skills of no mean order, as well as an essentially good and balanced character. He was no courtier in the mould of Baldassare Castiglione‘s creation, but rather the prefigurement of a new type of man, more suited to our time than to his own. Unlike most men of his age, Vespasiano Gonzaga allowed his cultural and artistic interests as much as his diplomatic ability to determine the kind of life he wished to live. He wanted, it is true, to make of himself a Promethean figure, even if his age and his personal limitations precluded the realization of such an endeavour. I became interested in the Duke after a visit to his miniature city of Sabbioneta, near Mantua, in the spring of 2002.