Melozzo was supposedly from a wealthy family named Ambrosi from
Forlì. Nothing is known about his early years. It is only a hypothesis that he was formed by the
Forlivese school of art, then dominated by
Ansuino da Forlì; both were influenced by
Andrea Mantegna. It has been said, also without confirmation, that he became a journeyman and color-grinder to master painters. His presence was first mentioned in his birthplace in 1460 and again in 1464. Around this period, and together with
Antoniazzo Romano, he painted frescoes in the Bessarione chapel in the
Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in
Rome. Melozzo then moved to
Urbino, probably between 1465 and 1474. There he met
Piero della Francesca, who profoundly influenced Melozzo's style and use of perspective. He would have also studied architecture by
Bramante and the work of
Flemish painters then working for duke
Federico da Montefeltro. Melozzo may have worked with
Justus of Ghent and
Pedro Berruguete to decorate the
studiolo of the city's famous
Ducal Palace. Around 1472-74, Melozzo transferred to
Rome, although some authorities claim his presence in Rome five or ten years earlier for work in the
Basilica di San Marco. In 1477, he finished his first major work in the new seat, a fresco now
transferred to canvas and placed in the
Pinacoteca Vaticana, representing
Sixtus IV Appointing Platina as Librarian of the Vatican Library. In the same year
Girolamo Riario built his palace in Rome, now known as
Palazzo Altemps, with designs by Melozzo. In 1478, he was one of the original members of the
Academy of St Luke, founded by Sixtus IV to unite the chief painters working in the city. In about 1472-74, Melozzo was commissioned by
Pietro Riario to paint the vault of the apse in the
basilica dei Santi Apostoli in
Rome, his subject being the
Ascension of Christ. In this work, Christ is boldly and effectively
foreshortened. This fresco was taken down in 1711. The figure of Christ is now in the
Quirinal Palace; some of the other portions, which influenced
Raphael, are in the sacristy of
St Peter's. A hall in the
Vatican Museums, with designs of angels and apostles by Melozzo, was taken from the same fresco. Another work of the Roman period is an
Annunciation that can still be seen in the
Pantheon. Melozzo's last work in Rome was a chapel, now destroyed, in the church of
Santa Maria in Trastevere. After the death of
Sixtus IV in 1484, Melozzo moved from Rome to
Loreto. There he painted the fresco in the cupola of the sacristy of San Marco in the
Basilica della Santa Casa, commissioned by cardinal
Girolamo Basso della Rovere. It is one of the first examples of a cupola decorated both with architecture and figures; it greatly influenced the
Camera degli Sposi by
Mantegna. In 1489 Melozzo returned to Rome. During this period he probably drew some cartoons for the mosaics of
Jesus blessing in the Chapel of St Helena of the basilica of
Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. Melozzo also painted the cupola of the Capuchin church at Forlì, which was destroyed in 1651. It has been said that he executed at
Urbino some of the portraits of great men (
Plato,
Dante,
Sixtus IV,
et al) which are now divided between the
Barberini Palace and the Campana collection in
Paris. In 1493, he worked on some ceilings, now lost, of the Palazzo Comunale of
Ancona. Eventually Melozzo returned to Forlì, where, together with his pupil
Marco Palmezzano, he decorated the Feo Chapel in the church of San Biagio, which was destroyed during
World War II. The Pinacoteca of
Forlì houses a fresco by Melozzo, known as the "Pestapepe," or Pepper-grinder, now much damaged. Originally painted as a grocer's sign, it is an energetic example of rather coarse realism and is Melozzo's only secular subject. Melozzo died in November 1494 in
Forlì and is buried in the Church of the Santissima Trinita (Most Holy Trinity). == Legacy ==