Pomponio Amalteo


Pomponio Amalteo was an Italian painter of the Venetian school.

Biography

He was born at Motta di Livenza in Veneto in 1505. He was a pupil and son-in-law of Il Pordenone, whose style he closely imitated; he inherited Pordenone's studio at Friuli, where he led a long career. His works consist chiefly of frescoes and altarpieces and many of which have degraded greatly over time. Five pictures representing subjects of Roman history painted by Amalteo adorn the Hall of the Notaries at Belluno. He also frescoed a series of judges for a loggia in the court of justice in Ceneda.
His shading is weaker; colors, brighter; and proportions of figures, less elegant, than those of Pordenone, of which he was likely the most accomplished of his pupils.
His brother Girolamo Amalteo is supposed to have assisted him in his labors. His daughter Quintilia Amalteo had the reputation of an excellent portraitist; she married the painter Giuseppe Moretto. Girolamo, besides the works in which he aided his brother, executed small pictures, painted in fresco, and produced an altarpiece for the church of San Vito. Other pupils were Sebastiano Seccante and Giovannni Antonio Agostini.
Members of the Amalteo family from Oderzo were writers. He died at San Vito al Tagliamento in 1588.