Cicisbeo

Cicisbeo, Carlo Goldoni, 1790 Cicisbeo, also cicisbeo (cicisbeo, cavaliere servente) is a friend of the house who admires the lady of the house, gach, lover. In the 18th century in Italy this was called the companion of a married lady from higher spheres.

Cicisbeo, in former Italy, was the trustee of a wealthy married woman, most often paid to meet her intimate needs and accompanied in public. He could have been a married man or a bachelor. Usually he belonged to the aristocracy. An appropriate partner for a lady was chosen by both spouses. In Spain called cortejo or estrecho. Throughout the 18th century the employment of cicisbeo was considered a common custom and social norm which was not linked to the concept of conjugal betrayal.

Historically, the Swiss economist Jean de Sismondi devoted much time to cicisbeo, considering that they were one of the main causes of the decline of Italian family traditions. Roberto Bizzocchi, in turn, showed that the stereotypes of masculinity and femininity in eighteenth-century Italy were around them. Cicisbeo is present in the literature and theater of this period. It was mocked by some authors (Giuseppe Parini Il giorno) or described as a specimen of Italian customs (Carlo Goldoni La dama prudente, La famiglia dell'antiquario). She also appeared in the opera house (Mozart's Marriage, Mozart's Italian, Rossini's Algiers).

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