The Violet-fronted Brilliant is distributed from northern Venezuela to north-western Bolivia. See the distribution map at xeno-canto. It is found in humid montane forest mainly on the eastern slope of the Andes at between 900 and 2,300 metres.

The Leadbeaters were a father and son operating in London in the 19th century who were taxidermists and dealers with an extensive bird collection from which some species such as this have been described.