Ivan Gundulić (1589 – 1638) was the most prominent Croatian Baroque poet. Being born into a noble family in Dubrovnik, Gundulić had access to the best of education. He lived his whole life in Dubrovnik, where he performed many governmental duties of the Dubrovnik Republic.
His first works were made under the influence of the Dubrovnik Renaissance writers. However, later, Gundulić abandons the work he has done, and profiles himself as a Christian poet, promoting values of the Roman Catholic counter-reformation: religious enthusiasm and emphasizing the vanity of this world.
The three of his works represent exceptional achievements of Croatian and European Baroque literature:
- the epic poem Osman, his most valuable piece, covers the events related to the life, reign and death of the Turkish Sultan Osman II. The poem contains a total of 10428 verses!
- allegorical pastoral Dubravka with the Hymn to Liberty that became an unofficial Dubrovnik’s hymn, celebrating freedom as a “gift from God”;
- and the religious poem The Tears of the Prodigal Son (based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son).
He died at the age of 49, and unfortunately, never managed to become a rector of the Republic (to become a rector one had to be at least 50 years old). He was buried in the family tomb in the Franciscan church in Dubrovnik.
Ivan Gundulić is a Croatian literature classic, but also a crucial part of the European Baroque in general.