An unknown play by Baroque writer Felix Lope de Vega has been found in the archives of the Spanish National Library, CNN reports. Behind the discovery is artificial intelligence.
We owe the discovery of an unknown drama to scientists from the universities of Vienna and Valladolid. They used artificial intelligence skills to transcribe and analyze anonymous manuscripts from the library archive.
The algorithm also checked each of the 1,300 manuscripts studied for the choice of words used by the writers. In this way, it was established that the drama “The French Laura” was written by Lope de Vega. The choice of words used by the author of The French Girl was, according to experts, characteristic only of de Vega and not of “the other 350 playwrights who were part of the study.”
The experts then used traditional philological research methods to finally confirm the algorithm’s findings.
Art “French Laura”
“French Laura” is an extraordinary play, with the dramatic power expected from a mature Lope de Vega, the library’s experts assessed. In their opinion, the work was written several years before the death of the writer, who died in 1635.
Lope de Vega (Felix Lope de Vega y Carpio) is one of the most important representatives of the literature of the “Golden Age”, the creator of the national drama, the so-called Spanish comedy. He was a prolific author – 2,000 dramas were to come out of his pen, but only a quarter of them have survived to our times.
Felix Lope de Vega Hulton Archive/Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
Main photo source: Hulton Archive/Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images