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 da Montagnana frescoed by Jacopo and Prospero da Piazzola. Also contemporary in Padua at that time was Pietro Calzetta and Francesco Bazelieri Jacopo da Montagnana Jacopo da Montagnana, also known as Jacopo Parisato (Montagnana, circa 1440 to 1443 – Padua, 20 April and 14 Aug 1499) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance who was mainly active in the Padua area. He was born in Montagnana, but mainly active in Padua where he died. He was either a pupil or influenced by Andrea Mantegna and/ or Gentile Bellini. He is considered a major Quattrocento painter in Padua. He was active in