Antonio Lo Frasso

Poet, writer and soldier from Alghero, he left his hometown in favor of the Iberian Peninsula because of his career in the army and published his entire work in Barcelona in the mid-16th century. Among the most important works are “Mil y dozientos Consejos y Avisos Discretos”, advice in verse to children who continue to live in Sardinia, on various subjects and on knowing how to live in society and in the contemporary world. The ending of the work is characterized by a description of the battle of Lepanto in octaves. The work of greatest commitment to Frasso is “Los Diez de Libros de la Fortuna de Amor”, a pastoral novel inspired by the Italian works of Sannazaro, which were part of a genre hitherto little known to Spanish culture. This writing, however cumbersome, had a certain circulation and was even quoted twice (even if ironically) by Cervantes in his works.
From a linguistic point of view, Lo Frasso's work represents all the complexity of Sardinian multilingualism at the time. In fact, the author mixes Castilian, Catalan and Sardinian in his works with full awareness. It is also significant that over time he clearly prefers Castilian to Catalan: a sign of the times and of the decline of Catalan culture within the lands of the Spanish Crown. Of some interest are the sonnets and octaves that Lo Frasso wrote in an elegant Sardinian, testifying to his relationships and contacts with Girolamo Araolla and Giovanni Francesco Fara.

Update

23/6/2026 - 15:05