Melozzo da Forlì

Melozzo da Forlì
self-portrait
Born	c. 1438 Forlì
Died	1494 (aged 55–56) Forlì
Education	Forlì painting school
Known for	Painting, architecture
Notable work	Frescoes of the Basilica of Santi Apostoli, Rome, Basilica della Santa Casa (Loreto)
Movement	Italian Renaissance
Patron(s)	Ansuino da Forlì

Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school.

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.

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