DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1041#0016
6 History of the Society of Dilettanti
Toung The young English aristocrat was a conspicuous
Englishmen figure m tne chief centres of society on the Con-
°Grand Tour. tinent- He was as much criticized abroad for what
seemed in foreign eyes his insular eccentricities, as
he was on his return for his affectation of foreign
habits of speech and behaviour. We get frequent
glimpses of him from memoirs and letters of the
time. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, writing to
her daughter about the winter which she passed in
Rome in 1740-41, says :
c There was an unusual concourse of English, many of them with
great estates and their own masters: as they had no admittance
to the Roman ladies nor understood the language, they had no way
of passing their evenings but in my apartment, where I had always
a full drawing-room. Their governors encouraged their assiduities
as much as they could, finding I gave them lessons of economy and
good conduct j and my authority was so great, it was a common
threat among them, " I'll tell Lady Mary what you say." I was
judge of all their disputes, and my decisions always submitted to.
While I staid, there was neither gaming, drinking, quarrelling or
keeping/
In spite of Lady Mary's complacent opinion of
her own influence, it is to be feared that the four
practices mentioned in her last sentence were sadly
prevalent among these young men, and that in many
cases it was the governor, rather than the pupil, who
profited most by the expedition. In any case, it was
from among these young travellers that the Society
of Dilettanti was recruited.
choke of In the absence of original records, there is nothing
name. J beyond the obvious fitness of the name to explain
why the original members called their Society the
Dilettanti. The Italian word 'dilettante' appro-
priately describes the character of these young men.
The French word 'amateur' had not yet been adopted
into the vernacular, the word < virtuoso' had already
acquired a professional sound. There was in fact
Toung The young English aristocrat was a conspicuous
Englishmen figure m tne chief centres of society on the Con-
°Grand Tour. tinent- He was as much criticized abroad for what
seemed in foreign eyes his insular eccentricities, as
he was on his return for his affectation of foreign
habits of speech and behaviour. We get frequent
glimpses of him from memoirs and letters of the
time. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, writing to
her daughter about the winter which she passed in
Rome in 1740-41, says :
c There was an unusual concourse of English, many of them with
great estates and their own masters: as they had no admittance
to the Roman ladies nor understood the language, they had no way
of passing their evenings but in my apartment, where I had always
a full drawing-room. Their governors encouraged their assiduities
as much as they could, finding I gave them lessons of economy and
good conduct j and my authority was so great, it was a common
threat among them, " I'll tell Lady Mary what you say." I was
judge of all their disputes, and my decisions always submitted to.
While I staid, there was neither gaming, drinking, quarrelling or
keeping/
In spite of Lady Mary's complacent opinion of
her own influence, it is to be feared that the four
practices mentioned in her last sentence were sadly
prevalent among these young men, and that in many
cases it was the governor, rather than the pupil, who
profited most by the expedition. In any case, it was
from among these young travellers that the Society
of Dilettanti was recruited.
choke of In the absence of original records, there is nothing
name. J beyond the obvious fitness of the name to explain
why the original members called their Society the
Dilettanti. The Italian word 'dilettante' appro-
priately describes the character of these young men.
The French word 'amateur' had not yet been adopted
into the vernacular, the word < virtuoso' had already
acquired a professional sound. There was in fact