Baldassare Castiglione, a literary genius, astute diplomat, and military captain defined the term 'Renaissance Man'. Through his best selling *Book of the Courtier*, he taught countless generations of European aristocrats how to be cool, calm, and collected. Syracuse University Professor and Italian art expert Gary Radke discusses Castiglione, his masterful portrait by Raphael, and the world in which they both lived.
Gary Radke is professor of Fine Arts at Syracuse University. A fellow of the American Academy in Rome, he has received fellowship support from the Mellon Foundation, Kress Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, among others. His publications include Viterbo: Profile of a Thirteenth Century Papal Palaceand Art in Renaissance Italy, as well as numerous articles and book chapters on Italian Renaissance architecture and sculpture. Radke is past president of the Italian Art Society and guest curator for exhibitions of Italian art at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.