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 Sellaio John the Baptist. He also painted religious works for the church of San Lucia dei Magnoli and the church of San Frediano, both in Florence. Jacopo da Sellaio Jacopo da Sellaio (c. 1441–1493), sometimes known as Jacopo di Arcangel, was an eclectic Italian painter from the early Renaissance, who painted in the style of the Florentine School. He was a pupil of Fra' Filippo Lippi, with his contemporary Sandro Botticelli, who became a lasting influence on him. It is noted that by 1460, he had joined the Confraternity of Saint Luke (Italian: "Compagnia di S Luca") in Florence, and in