Painting and writing: humanistic traits of the judgement of friendship in Montaigne

Abstract

The central aim of this article is to examine to what extent Montaigne re-finds the “I” and his humanity in the exercise of the writing of his principal experiments, through the essays. One begins with the assumption of placing the metaphor of the painter as a way of the essayist to describe his experiences, so that he develops an autobiography and keeps alive in the writing the friendship with La Boétie. However, such an experience does not allow the full human achievement of the author, but rather causes him to encounter the precariousness of his “I” due to the death of his friend.