Pietro Perugino
1445-1524
Early Renaissance Painter of the Umbrian school
Stylistically influenced by the following painters - Piero della Francesca, Giotto di Bondone, Sassetta and Fra Angelico
Education - He was apprenticed to the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio
Cause of Death - Plague
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About the Artist
Art historians regard the Renaissance to be the true beginning of art history. The term "renaissance" means "rebirth". Pietro Perugino's personal life was wild and tumultuous. He was known to be high-spirited and unpredictable. The artist scorned church dogma and ridiculed his pious friends. A well know penny pincher, he demanded full payment before beginning any project. According to his biographer, Giorgio Vasari, "Pietro was not a religious man, and would never believe it, the immortality of the soul, obstinately refusing to listen to all good reasons. He relied entirely upon the good gifts of fortune, and would have gone to any lengths for money. He acquired great wealth, and built and bought houses in Florence. At Perugia and Castello della Pieve he acquired much real property."
Perugino was in huge demand as the finest portraitist of his day and the church hierarchy loved his rather corny, virtuous religious themes and commissioned altarpieces. He worked chiefly in Umbria, Florence and Tuscany. His style is characterized by dazzling colors, spatial clarity of his compositions and a harmonious union between figure and landscape. He was the teacher of Raphael, who benefited much their relationship.
In
the year 1524 plague swept
through Italy, killing
hundreds of thousands.
Perugino was one of the
unlucky victims. According
to Renaissance historian Amy
Steedman, "To the hospital
of Fartignano, close to
Perugia, they carried
Perugino when the deadly
plague seized him, and there
he died. There was no time
to think of grand funerals;
the people were buried as
quickly as possible, in
whatever place lay closest
at hand. So it came to pass
that Perugino was laid to
rest in an open field under
an oak-tree close by. Later
on his sons wished to have
him buried in holy ground,
and some say that this was
done, but nothing is known
for certain. Perhaps if he
could
have chosen, he would have
been glad to think that his
body should rest under the
shelter of the trees he
loved to paint, in that
waste openness of space
which had always been his
vision of beauty, since, as
a little boy, he gazed
across the Umbrian Plain,
and the wonder of it sank
into his soul."
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Key Descriptive Words and Phrases associated with the Renaissance Movement - rebirth, rediscovery of the classical world, publication of Della Pittura, a book about the laws of mathematical perspective for artists, spiritually significant, illuminated manuscript, idealized biblical themes, scriptorium, illuminator, plague, Age of Discovery, curiosity about the natural world, realistic use of colours and light, Old Testament stories, sfumato, chiaroscuro, ethereal and foggy backgrounds, Gospel parables, romanticized landscapes, Christian symbolism.
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