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 Bertoia Jacopo Bertoia Jacopo Bertoia, also known as Giacomo Zanguidi or Jacopo Zanguidi or Bertoja, (1544 – ca. 1574), was an Italian painter of a late-Renaissance or Mannerist style that emerged in Parma towards the end of the 16th century. He was strongly influenced by Parmigianino. Born in Parma, he apparently studied in Bologna with Sabatini. His masterpiece is the "Sala del Bacio", in the Palazzo del Giardino in Parma. He also helped decorate the "Sala di Orfeo" in the same palace. In Rome, he was part of the team that frescoed the walls of the Oratorio del Gonfalone in Rome,