AMALTEO, POMPONIO

AMALTEO, POMPONIO. - Painter, born at Motta di Livenza in 1505, died on 9 March 1588 at S. Vito al Tagliamento. Throughout his production he remained consistently faithful to Pordenone, whose daughter he had married, often going so far as to imitate him, as in the Cathedral (chapel of S. Nicola, 1533) and in the church of the hospital of S. Vito (Life of the Virgin, 1535); but, lacking the ardent genius of his father-in-law, he weakens his forms, darkens his colour, and exaggerates his movement. He was nevertheless a good composer and executed with ease, though in his final period this degenerated into mannerism. Among his best works should be recalled the frescoes in the Cathedral and the Castles of Belluno and Udine, the Life of the Virgin in S. Maria della Grazie at Prodolone of 1538, the Stories of S. Caterina in the church of the same name at Tolmezzo; many others remain in various localities of Friuli.