Italian opera "Dafne" by Jacopo Peri was the earliest composition considered opera, as understood today. Peri's works, however, did not arise out of a creative vacuum in the area of sung drama. An underlying prerequisite for the creation of opera proper was the practice of monody. Monody is the solo singing/setting of a dramatically conceived melody, designed to express the emotional content of the text it carries, which is accompanied by a relatively simple sequence of chords rather than other polyphonic parts. Italian composers began composing in this style late in the 16th century, and it grew in part from the long-standing
Jacopo d'Avanzi Sant'Antonio at Padua, which were painted in 1376, completed later by Altichiero da Zevio and Sebeto da Verona. All three also painted in Verona. Jacopo d'Avanzi Jacopo d'Avanzi (after 1350s – 1416) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. He is also known as "Jacopo Avanzi" or "Jacopo de Avanzi", although apparently often confused with other artists, including "Jacopo de' Bavozi" and the Vicentine "Avanzo". Born in either Bologna, he trained supposedly with Vitale da Bologna. He worked with Galasso Galassi of Ferrara and Cristofano of Bologna in the old church of Santa Apollonia di Mezzaratta; these frescoes are