Maffeo Vegio (Latin:Maphaeus Vegius; 1407–1458) was an Italian poet who wrote inLatin; he is regarded by many as the finest Latin poet of the fifteenth century.
Born nearLodi, he studied at theUniversity of Pavia, and went on to write some fifty works of both prose and poetry.
His greatest reputation came as the writer of briefepics, the most famous of which was his continuation ofVirgil'sAeneid, known variously as theSupplementum (Supplement) orAeneidos Liber XIII (Book 13 of theAeneid). Completed in 1428, this 600-line poem starts immediately after the end of Virgil's epic, and describes Aeneas's marriage to Lavinia and his eventual deification. Its combination of classical learning and piety made it very popular in its day; it was often included in editions of theAeneid in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. An electronic text can be found at theLatin Library.
Vegio also wrote an epic,Astyanax (1430), on the death of the son of Hector, prince of Troy, and a four-book epic,Vellus Aureum (theGolden Fleece) (1431). During 1436–37 he completed his epic on the life of theChristianSaint Anthony, theAntoniad.Michael C. J. Putnam edited and translated Vegio'sShort Epics for theI Tatti Renaissance Library (Harvard University Press).
Vegio flattered his way into the papal court, and was madecanon ofSt. Peter's Basilica in 1443; it was an office he held until his death in 1458.
Some of Vegio's poems were later set as motets by renaissance composers – an example beingHuc me sidereo, set byJosquin,Jacobus Vaet,Orlando Di Lasso and the first motet ofAdrian Willaert's 1559Musica Nova collection.[1]
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