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 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