Pedro Calderón de la Barca died in 1681 after a long career as a playwright and poet of the Spanish Golden Age. His works joined honour drama, religious allegory and philosophical reflection. His death marked the passing of one of Spain's great baroque dramatists.

Calderón's plays, especially Life Is a Dream, gave European drama enduring images of illusion, freedom and fate. His sacramental drama also shows how poetry, theatre and theology could merge in baroque performance.