The Courtier, portrays the ideal courtier. So influential was the book that it confirmed the Italian humanism throughout Europe. The learned and lighthearted discussions -yet laden with serious themes- took place during four evenings in 1507 in the Palace of Urbino. This Palace was a veritable museum of European art, and it housed a library of all the known Greek, Roman, and Hebrew classics. In this setting the reader will see - as if passing in review- historical characters and the views and attitudes they held toward women, art, literature, manners, love, beauty, and God.