Italian classical music is difficult to do if everyone is singing a melody at the same time; thus, polyphony gave way to homophony, and early opera consisted of relatively simple melodies with texts about Greek mythology, sung in Italian and supported by simple harmonies. The important city in Italy in this development of music in the 16th century was Florence. (See also: Florentine Camerata, Vincenzo Galilei, Jacopo Peri, Palestrina, Arcangelo Corelli.) Besides Florence, two other Italian cities are particularly worthy of mention in the period around 1600. There is somewhat of a friendly rivalry between advocates of the two cities as to which
Jacopo di Cione Jacopo di Cione Jacopo di Cione (c. 1325 – after 1390) was an Italian Gothic period painter in the Republic of Florence. Born in Florence between 1320 and 1330, he is closely associated with his three older brothers Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (called Orcagna), Nardo di Cione and Matteo di Cione. The di Cione (pronounced dee choh’ nay) brothers often worked collaboratively. Jacopo lived in the popolo Sancte Marie Novelle and, later in life, in the popolo Sancti Laurentii. In 1366–68 Jacopo worked on a large chamber in the guildhall of the judges and notaries, Florence (a surviving altarpiece