Morto da Feltre

Morto da Feltre was an Italian painter of the Venetian school who worked at the close of the 15th century and beginning of the 16th.

Born in Feltre (province of Belluno), he may probably have studied painting first in Venice and surroundings, initially an assistant of Pinturicchio.

It is claimed by Vasari that at an early age he went to Rome, and investigated the ancient, especially the subterranean remains, and thence to Pozzuoli, where he painted from the decorations of antique crypts or grotte.

There he executed various works, including some frescoes, still partly extant, and considered to be almost worthy of the hand of Raphael, in the loggia beside the church of Santo Stefano.

Towards the age of forty-five, Morto, unquiet and dissatisfied, abandoned painting and took to soldiering in the service of the Venetian republic.