Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega (1501–1536) anticipates the subjectivism of Romanticism by three centuries, which perhaps explains why his poetry feels closer and more modern than much of sixteenth-century literature. Having absorbed a vast array of Greco-Roman and Italian classics, Garcilaso discovered his own poetic voice and left us with an oeuvre that is richer and more varied than it might seem at first sight. Indeed, there is more to his poetry than lamenting the rejection, absence, or death of his beloved. In his poetry, the echoes of Virgil, Ovid, Petrarch, and Sannazaro are harmonised with extraordinary wisdom and maturity by a poet who died before reaching the age of 35. Furthermore, Garcilaso played a crucial role in introducing the Petrarchan feminine model of the donna angelicata to Spain. This lecture will examine his portrayal of female beauty.