Sprezzatura
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Sprezzatura is an Italian term meaning the expression of aristocratic attitude. The Mona Lisa is a classic example of sprezzatura. The sprezzatura of the Mona Lisa is seen in both her smile and the positioning of her hands. Both the smile and hands are intended to convey her grandeur, self-confidence and societal position. Leonardo da Vinci was a master at capturing not only the physical likeness, but also the subject's attitude: the sprezzatura.
Vasari, in his biography of Leonardo, tells us that Leonardo employed musicians to entertain Lisa Gherardini (the Mona Lisa) to avoid the bored and melanchoic look frequently found in portrait paintings.
Sprezzatura is a complicated word that first finds its origins in Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier. Its basic meaning within the book pertains to the art of concealing artifice. The courtiers of the day did not think that any activity or goal was worth doing or having if the effort to do or to have it was obvious. An example of Sprezzatura in today's culture might be the painstaking time and effort that it takes to ornament a fashion model for a single picture; the goal is to have you believe that the model's beauty is purely natural. In much the same way, the art of Sprezzatura involves showing disdain for the mundane work needed to create art, poetry, or even the air of appearing graceful and courteous, all of which are necessary to be a sublime courtier. As the character Count Ludovico says in Castiglione's Book, "It is an art which does not seem to be an art. One must avoid affectation and practice in all things a certain sprezzatura, disdain or carelessness, so as to conceal art, and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it ... obvious effort is the antithesis of grace."
Sprezzatura can also be applied to the poets of the time who wanted to make their poetry seem to be the result of careful and meticulous work instead of the product of effortless and spontaneous action.
