«Del origin et nobiltà del ballo». La danza fra natura e cultura in un trattato inedito di Giulio Mancini

«Del origin et nobiltà del ballo». Dance between Nature and Culture in an Un- published Treatise by Giulio Mancini · Del origin et nobiltà del ballo (c. 1620), a work by the physician and art expert Giulio Mancini, is examined here within the humanistic cultural paradigm, which includes: the education of the nobleman to a second be- havioral nature, the foundation of the society of grace and good manners, and the arrangement of technical knowledge and its reduction to art. Mancini contributes to this paradigm through his ideas on medicine, art and dance. If the preservation of health is held to be a universal value, then the ideal of a healthy lifestyle, punctuated by physical exercise, is combined with the contemplation of painting. This, according to Mancini, is the prerogative of nobles, whose fortune allows them to collect pre- cious works of art that serve to provide recreation for the body and relief to the soul.