While others had written in vernacular Italian before him, Petrarca's work marked a significant shift towards the use of Italian as a literary language. He is known for his sonnets, which celebrated love and beauty, as well as for his letters and epics. His work helped to establish Italian as a major literary language and contributed to the development of the Italian Renaissance.
However, it's important to note that the Italian language was still evolving during Petrarch's time. He wrote in a Tuscan dialect, which was not the standard Italian language of today.