Tasso, Torquato

Torquato (1544-1595), a celebrated Italian poet. He was born at Sorrento, Italy, March 11, 1544, and died at Rome, April 25, 1595. He was educated by the Jesuits at Naples and Rome and studied law at Padua. Obtaining his father's consent to abandon law, he pursued his literary studies at the University of Bologna. His is one of the great names in Italian literature. His chief work is Jerusalem Delivered, an epic poem, celebrating the heroic deeds of the First Crusaders. He was attached to the household of various princely patrons, but became the prey of delusions, one of which was that he was an unpardonable heretic. In 1578 he was placed in an insane asylum, but was subsequently released. Goethe's German tragedy of Tasso is based on a story current to the effect that Tasso was shut up, not for insanity, but because he aspired to the hand of a certain duke's sister. Like many other poets, he led a troublous, passionate life and died unhappy. His portraits represent a dark, slender, intellectual, but rather restless man, wearing a rich habit. See Tancred; Crusades; Epic