Although little is known of his career, Giorgione played a central role in the development of the High Renaissance in early 16th-century Venetian painting. After early training by Venetian masters, he soon surpassed them and began to imitate the coloring and modeling of Leonardo da Vinci. In 1508 he worked on frescoes on the facade of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi and on a group portrait of the Council of Ten in Venice. That painting has since been lost. Giorgione was a musician and poet as well as an artist. He was part of the most cultivated circles of Venice.