Francisco Delicado

Who was Francisco Delicado?

Francisco Delicado was a Spanish writer and editor of the Renaissance. Little is known about his life. He was born in Cordoba, Spain and, by uncertain reasons, he moved to Rome, where he became vicar and Italianized his surname to Delicado. After the sack of Rome, he went to Venice where he wrote his novel Portrait of Lozana: The Lusty Andalusian Woman, that continues on the lines of the novel in dialogue exemplified by Celestina. The book is a social and historical portrait of Rome and its dark side in the first years of the 16th century, and one of the first works of the picaresque novel. He was also a disciple of Antonio de Nebrija and editor of books such as Amadis de Gaula, Celestina, Primaleon and some medical treatises like El modo de adoperare el legno de India and De consolatione infirmorum.

He himself suffered of syphilis. His favourable portrait of Jews has led some to suspect that he was a Converso.