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 da Montagnana 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 the fresco decoration of the Capella Santa Maria degli Angeli, in the Palazzo Vescovile of Padua, erected in 1495, and