Cristofano Malvezzi Cristofano Malvezzi Cristofano Malvezzi (baptised June 28, 1547 – January 22, 1599) was an Italian organist and composer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most famous composers in the city of Florence during a time of transition to the Baroque style. Malevezzi was born in Lucca. From 1551 he lived in Florence, serving the Medicis from 1562. He held a number of organist posts in the city, and also taught pupils, among them Jacopo Peri, who is often regarded as the inventor of opera. From 1573 he held the double post of "maestro di cappella" at the
Jacopo Strada Jacopo Strada Jacopo Strada (Mantua, 1507 — Prague 1588) was an Italian polymath courtier of the 16th century, a painter, architect, goldsmith, inventor of machines, numismatist, linguist, collector and merchant of works of art. His portrait by Titian has kept his image familiar. He is supposed to have received early training as a goldsmith in the Mantua workshops of Giulio Romano; drawings of Giulio's Palazzo del Tè and of its painted interiors and those of the Palazzo Ducale at Mantua, datable 1567-68, are attributed to Jacopo Strada, intended for his "Descrizione di tutta Italia". From 1552 to 1555 he sojourned