Pietro Novelli: Life and Legacy Early Life and Training Born: Monreale, Italy in 1603. Died: Palermo, Sicily in 1647. Pietro Novelli, also known as il Monrealese, began his artistic journey under the tutelage of his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli I, a painter and mosaicist. Following his father’s death from the bubonic plague in 1625, Novelli continued to develop his skills as an apprentice alongside Gerardo Asturino. In 16…