Pietro Vannucci detto “Il Perugino“, è considerato uno dei massimi esponenti dell’umanesimo ed il più grande rappresentante della pittura umbra del XV secolo. Il nome del Perugino è spesso associato a quelli di Leonardo da Vinci, con il quale aveva una certa affinità artistica e intellettuale, e di Sandro Botticelli, con il quale tra l’altro collaborò nelle decorazioni della Cappella Sistina.
Il contesto storico in cui si muove è quello del tardo umanesimo: nasce infatti, nel 1450 d.C. a Città della Pieve, ma si trasferisce ben presto in Toscana, prima a Lucca poi a Firenze, dove inizia a frequentare la prestigiosa bottega di Andrea del Verrocchio.
In lui, come negli altri pittori umbri, c’è un’intimità religiosa che si richiama direttamente alla spiritualità della regione; spesso è il dolce paesaggio del Trasimeno o della vallata folignate, boscosa e ricca di castelli, che si affaccia sullo sfondo delle sue opere.
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L’Arte del Perugino
Tra i caratteri distintivi dell’arte del Perugino, ci sono la coscienza del paesaggio e la conquista dello spazio atmosferico, merito, in parte, della frequentazione con il suo compagno di studi Leonardo. D’altronde Firenze ha un ruolo fondamentale nella formazione dell’artista, tanto che i contemporanei lo considerano, di fatto, un maestro fiorentino d’adozione
Le sue prime opere documentate risalgono al 1478, anno in cui affresca la chiesa di Cerqueto, nei dintorni di Perugia e L’adorazione dei Magi, conservata nella Galleria Nazione dell’Umbria di Perugia. La sua maturità artistica si compie con la decorazione della Cappella Sistina, opera alla quale partecipano tutti i più grandi artisti del tardo umanesimo, quali Cosimo Rosselli, il Botticelli, ed il Ghirlandaio. È qui che realizza il suo capolavoro, La consegna delle Chiavi a San Pietro, dove in una vasta spazialità segnata da riferimenti architettonici, frutto delle esperienze di Piero della Francesca, si muovono figure teatralmente equilibrate, di stampo verrocchiesco.
Nell’ultimo periodo della sua vita si muove per lo più in Umbria. È un periodo particolarmente fecondo e ricco di capolavori come lo Sposalizio della Vergine, che verrà poi rivisitato dal suo allievo Raffaello, l’ascensione, l‘assunzione e il trionfo della castità. Conclude i suoi giorni a Perugia nel 1524.
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Sui passi del Perugino
Città della Pieve sorge nell’area meridionale del Trasimeno, non lontano dal confine con la vicina Toscana. Dal centro storico cittadino, situato in cima a un colle che domina il paesaggio circostante, si può godere di uno dei panorami più belli e vasti della regione. Qui, presso Santa Maria dei Bianchi e la Cattedrale dei SS Gervasio e Protasio, si trovano alcune delle sue opere più significative.
Per saperne di più e magari visitare la città che ha dato i natali al celebre artista, leggi anche il nostro articolo su Città della Pieve.
Seguendo i passi del Perugino, tappa obbligata è poi Panicale, pittoresco paese che fa parte dei Borghi più Belli d’Italia. Nella Chiesa di San Sebastiano si trova infatti l’opera Martirio di San Sebastiano, un’intera parete affrescata dall’artista nel 1505. Dopo aver ammirato l’opera, apprezzerete la passeggiata nel suggestivo centro storico con la sua atmosfera d’altri tempi e i magnifici scorci sul Lago Trasimeno e le campagne tra Umbria e Toscana.
Per conoscere meglio il borgo, leggi il nostro articolo dedicato a Panicale
Pietro Vannucci best known as “Perugino“, is considered as one of the most important character in the renascence age and the most representative painter in Umbria of the XVth century.
We can see in him, as well as in the other umbrian painters a religious intimacy which comes directly from the spirituality of the region. The pleasant landscape of the Trasimeno lake or Foligno’s valley, with woods and castles, often on the background of his paintings. Perugino has often been mentioned with Leonardo da Vinci because of their intellecual and artistic affinity and with Sandro Botticelli, they also collaborated in the Sistin Chapel decorations.
He lived between the end of the XVth century and the beginning of the XVI. He was born in 1450 AD in Città della Pieve, but soon he moves to Tuscany, first in Lucca, then in Florence where he attends the lessons of Verrocchio. Florence has a most important role on his education, so that his contemporaries consider him a master of florentine adoption. Among the distinctive marks of Perugino’s art, there are the consciousness of the landscape and the conquering of an atmospheric due to the frequentation with his study mate Leonardo. His first documented pieces of art are dated 1478, the year in which he paints some frescoes in the chucrh of Cerqueto, near Perugia, and The adoration of the Magi, which can be found in the Umbria National Gallery in Perugia. He achieves his artistic maturity with the Sistin Chapel decorations, working with all the most famous artists of the earliest renascence age, like Cosimo Rosselli, botticelli and the Ghirlandaio. Here he paints his masterpiece Christ giving the keys to Saint Peter.
Balanced, harmonic figures move in a huge space limited by architectonic structure, derived from the experiences of Piero della Francesca, In the last part of his life, he mostly works in Umbria. It is a period extremely fertile for our artist. He paints masterpieces like The Marriage of the Virgin, that will be reiterpreteted by his pupil, the young Raphael, The Ascension, The Assumption, and The Triumph of Liberty. He ends his days in Perugia, in 1524.
Pietro Vannucci best known as “Perugino“, is considered as one of the most important character in the renascence age and the most representative painter in Umbria of the XVth century.
We can see in him, as well as in the other umbrian painters a religious intimacy which comes directly from the spirituality of the region. The pleasant landscape of the Trasimeno lake or Foligno’s valley, with woods and castles, often on the background of his paintings. Perugino has often been mentioned with Leonardo da Vinci because of their intellecual and artistic affinity and with Sandro Botticelli, they also collaborated in the Sistin Chapel decorations.
He lived between the end of the XVth century and the beginning of the XVI. He was born in 1450 AD in Città della Pieve, but soon he moves to Tuscany, first in Lucca, then in Florence where he attends the lessons of Verrocchio. Florence has a most important role on his education, so that his contemporaries consider him a master of florentine adoption. Among the distinctive marks of Perugino’s art, there are the consciousness of the landscape and the conquering of an atmospheric due to the frequentation with his study mate Leonardo. His first documented pieces of art are dated 1478, the year in which he paints some frescoes in the chucrh of Cerqueto, near Perugia, and The adoration of the Magi, which can be found in the Umbria National Gallery in Perugia. He achieves his artistic maturity with the Sistin Chapel decorations, working with all the most famous artists of the earliest renascence age, like Cosimo Rosselli, botticelli and the Ghirlandaio. Here he paints his masterpiece Christ giving the keys to Saint Peter.
Balanced, harmonic figures move in a huge space limited by architectonic structure, derived from the experiences of Piero della Francesca, In the last part of his life, he mostly works in Umbria. It is a period extremely fertile for our artist. He paints masterpieces like The Marriage of the Virgin, that will be reiterpreteted by his pupil, the young Raphael, The Ascension, The Assumption, and The Triumph of Liberty. He ends his days in Perugia, in 1524.
Pietro Vannucci best known as “Perugino“, is considered as one of the most important character in the renascence age and the most representative painter in Umbria of the XVth century.
We can see in him, as well as in the other umbrian painters a religious intimacy which comes directly from the spirituality of the region. The pleasant landscape of the Trasimeno lake or Foligno’s valley, with woods and castles, often on the background of his paintings. Perugino has often been mentioned with Leonardo da Vinci because of their intellecual and artistic affinity and with Sandro Botticelli, they also collaborated in the Sistin Chapel decorations.
He lived between the end of the XVth century and the beginning of the XVI. He was born in 1450 AD in Città della Pieve, but soon he moves to Tuscany, first in Lucca, then in Florence where he attends the lessons of Verrocchio. Florence has a most important role on his education, so that his contemporaries consider him a master of florentine adoption. Among the distinctive marks of Perugino’s art, there are the consciousness of the landscape and the conquering of an atmospheric due to the frequentation with his study mate Leonardo. His first documented pieces of art are dated 1478, the year in which he paints some frescoes in the chucrh of Cerqueto, near Perugia, and The adoration of the Magi, which can be found in the Umbria National Gallery in Perugia. He achieves his artistic maturity with the Sistin Chapel decorations, working with all the most famous artists of the earliest renascence age, like Cosimo Rosselli, botticelli and the Ghirlandaio. Here he paints his masterpiece Christ giving the keys to Saint Peter.
Balanced, harmonic figures move in a huge space limited by architectonic structure, derived from the experiences of Piero della Francesca, In the last part of his life, he mostly works in Umbria. It is a period extremely fertile for our artist. He paints masterpieces like The Marriage of the Virgin, that will be reiterpreteted by his pupil, the young Raphael, The Ascension, The Assumption, and The Triumph of Liberty. He ends his days in Perugia, in 1524.
Pietro Vannucci best known as “Perugino“, is considered as one of the most important character in the renascence age and the most representative painter in Umbria of the XVth century.
We can see in him, as well as in the other umbrian painters a religious intimacy which comes directly from the spirituality of the region. The pleasant landscape of the Trasimeno lake or Foligno’s valley, with woods and castles, often on the background of his paintings. Perugino has often been mentioned with Leonardo da Vinci because of their intellecual and artistic affinity and with Sandro Botticelli, they also collaborated in the Sistin Chapel decorations.
He lived between the end of the XVth century and the beginning of the XVI. He was born in 1450 AD in Città della Pieve, but soon he moves to Tuscany, first in Lucca, then in Florence where he attends the lessons of Verrocchio. Florence has a most important role on his education, so that his contemporaries consider him a master of florentine adoption. Among the distinctive marks of Perugino’s art, there are the consciousness of the landscape and the conquering of an atmospheric due to the frequentation with his study mate Leonardo. His first documented pieces of art are dated 1478, the year in which he paints some frescoes in the chucrh of Cerqueto, near Perugia, and The adoration of the Magi, which can be found in the Umbria National Gallery in Perugia. He achieves his artistic maturity with the Sistin Chapel decorations, working with all the most famous artists of the earliest renascence age, like Cosimo Rosselli, botticelli and the Ghirlandaio. Here he paints his masterpiece Christ giving the keys to Saint Peter.
Balanced, harmonic figures move in a huge space limited by architectonic structure, derived from the experiences of Piero della Francesca, In the last part of his life, he mostly works in Umbria. It is a period extremely fertile for our artist. He paints masterpieces like The Marriage of the Virgin, that will be reiterpreteted by his pupil, the young Raphael, The Ascension, The Assumption, and The Triumph of Liberty. He ends his days in Perugia, in 1524.
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