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The Great Masters in Painting and Sculpture
Edited by G. C. Williamson
PERUGINO
THE GREAT MASTERS IN PAINTING AND SCULPTURE.
_The following Volumes have been issued, price 5s. net each._
BERNARDINO LUINI. By =George C. Williamson=, Litt.D., Editor of the
Series.
VELASQUEZ. By =R. A. M. Stevenson=.
ANDREA DEL SARTO. By =H. Guinness=.
LUCA SIGNORELLI. By =Maud Cruttwell=.
RAPHAEL. By =H. Strachey=.
CARLO CRIVELLI. By =G. McNeil Rushforth, M.A.=, Classical Lecturer,
Oriel College, Oxford.
CORREGGIO. By =Selwyn Brinton=, M.A., Author of "The Renaissance in
Italian Art."
DONATELLO. By =Hope Rea=, Author of "Tuscan Artists."
PERUGINO. By =G. C. Williamson=, Litt.D.
_In preparation_
SODOMA. By the =Contessa Lorenzo Priuli-Bon=.
MEMLINC. By =W. H. James Weale=, late Keeper of the National Art
Library.
DELLA ROBBIA. By the =Marchesa Burlamacchi=.
EL GRECO By =Manuel B. Cossio=, Litt.D., Ph.D., Director of the
Musee Pédagogique, Madrid.
GIORGIONE. By =Herbert Cook=, M.A.
MICHAEL ANGELO. By =Charles Holroyd=, Keeper of the National Gallery
of British Art.
THE BROTHERS BELLINI. By =S. Arthur Strong=, M.A., Librarian to the
House of Lords
REMBRANDT. By =Malcolm Bell=.
_Others to follow._
* * * * *
LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS
[Illustration: Private photo. Marseilles.
The Family of St. Anne.]
PIETRO VANNUCCI
CALLED
PERUGINO
BY
GEORGE C. WILLIAMSON, LITT.D.
AUTHOR OF
"JOHN RUSSELL, R.A.," "RICHARD COSWAY, R.A., AND HIS WIFE AND PUPILS,"
"PORTRAIT MINIATURES," "BERNARDINO LUINI," ETC.
[Illustration: logo]
LONDON
GEORGE BELL & SONS
1900
PREFACE
The following pages contain what is, I believe, the only full account of
the life and works of Perugino in the English language. It is based upon
a careful examination of almost every one of his works to be found in
Europe, and upon a critical study of their characteristics. The labours
of other investigators have, however, been laid under contribution, and
I am especially indebted to the works of Crowe and Cavalcaselle,
Morelli, Mariotti, Orsini, and Vasari, and also to the works and advice
of Mr. Bernhard Berenson, Mrs. Herringham, and Dr. Laurie, and to the
writings and researches of M. Broussolle. To the Archbishop of Trebizond
(Monsignore Stonor) I am most grateful for obtaining permission for me
to study the Albani altar-piece, and to Prince Torlonia for kindly
granting my request, and also to His Excellency Lord Currie for constant
and never-failing aid in regard to all the other Italian galleries.
Signor Cecchetti has helped me to obtain good photographs of the
pictures in and near to Città della Pieve, Miss Fearon has kindly
re-measured some of the Italian pictures for me, and the Rev. H. R.
Ware, and the Rev. T. C Robson, have given me much help in rendering the
Latin verse of Perugino into English verse. To each and all of these I
offer my hearty thanks. I have also to thank the Directors of the
Vatican and Perugia galleries for special facilities afforded me; Mr.
Murray for permission to quote from his handbooks, and the
photographers for the use of their photographs, and finally to beg that
if by chance I have made use of other material without the fullest
acknowledgment, the omission may be forgiven me inasmuch as I have
endeavoured to avoid so serious a fault. My own divergences from the
accepted views will be found fully recorded in these pages, and are in
every case founded upon personal study, and for them I alone am
responsible.
G. C. W.
CONTENTS
PAGE
=List of Illustrations= ix
Bibliography xiii
Chapter
I. =Birth, Masters, and Environment= 1
II. =Early Days= 19
III. =Technique, Pigments, and Vehicles= 33
IV. =Wanderings= 39
V. =The Story of the Pillage= 47
VI. =In Full Strength= 58
VII. =The Cambio= 74
VIII. =Florence, Perugia, and Città della Pieve= 83
IX. =Age, Infirmity, Dignity, and Death= 99
X. =St. Sebastian= 115
=Catalogue of the Works of Perugino=--
=Austria-Hungary= 121
=Belgium= 122
=British Isles= 122
=France= 127
=Germany= 131
=Italy= 133
=Chronological List of Pictures= 155
=Index= 157
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Family of St. Anne, _Frontispiece_ _Marseilles_
Figure of St. Sebastian at Cerqueto, 1478 10
The Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter
(double plate) _Sistine Chapel, Rome_ 14
{Predella panel from }
The Baptism of Christ {the San Pietro altar-piece } _Rouen_ 18
{(Perugia) }
Madonna and Child enthroned, with four Saints _Vatican Gallery_ 22
The Crucifixion _La Calza, Florence_ 24
The Dead Christ _Accademia, Florence_ 26
Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane _Accademia, Florence_ 26
The Albani altar-piece (double plate) 1491 _Villa Albani, Rome_ 28
The Fiesole altar-piece, 1493 _Uffizi Palace, Florence_ 30
Portrait of Francesco delle Opere, 1494 _Uffizi Palace, Florence_ 40
The Ascension of Christ _Borgo San Sepolcro_ 42
The Entombment of Christ, 1495 _Pitti Palace, Florence_ 44
Saint Benedict, from the San Pietro
(Perugia) altar-piece _The Vatican, Rome_ 52
The Virgin appearing to St. Bernard _Munich_ 62
The Virgin in Glory, 1496 _Bologna Gallery_ 64
The Crucifixion (double plate)
_Sta. Maria Maddalena del Pazzi, Florence_ 66
The Certosa three-fold altar-piece
(double plate) _National Gallery, London_ 68
The Madonna and Child with penitents, 1497 _Perugia Gallery_ 70
The Intercession of St. Francis on behalf
of Perugia _Perugia Gallery_ 70
The Crucifixion _Accademia, Florence_ 72
Fortitude and Temperance with the Warriors _The Cambio, Perugia_ 76
Portrait of Perugino, 1500 _The Cambio, Perugia_ 78
The Assumption of The Virgin, 1500 _Accademia, Florence_ 82
Portrait of the Abbot Baldassare of
Vallombrosa _Accademia, Florence_ 84
Portrait of Don Biagio Milanesi of
Vallombrosa _Accademia, Florence_ 84
The Resurrection _Vatican Gallery_ 86
The Crucifixion (painted around a
wooden crucifix) _Perugia Gallery_ 88
Letter from Perugino, 20th February 1504 _Città della Pieve_ 90
Letter from Perugino, 1st March 1504 _Città della Pieve_ 90
Letter from Perugino, 30th March 1512 _Perugia Gallery_ 90
The Adoration of the Magi, 1504 _Città della Pieve_ 92
The Deposition (Filippino Lippi and
Perugino), 1505 _Accademia, Florence_ 94
The Schiavone altar-piece, 1507 _National Gallery_ 100
The Crucifixion, 1510 _St. Augustine's, Siena_ 102
St. Sebastian and St. Apollonia, from the
Sant' Agostino (Perugia) altar-piece _Grenoble Gallery_ 106
The Holy Trinity and various Saints
(Raphael and Perugino), 1505 and 1521 _San Severo, Perugia_ 106
The Adoration of the Magi, 1521 _Sta. Maria, Trevi_ 108
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, 1518 _Perugia Gallery_ 118
BIBLIOGRAPHY
=Austin, Alfred.= "Notes made in Perugia." (An article.)
=Bell, N.= "Tourists' Art Guide to Europe." London, 1893.
=Bonacci Brunamonti.= "Pietro Perugino" in "Rivista Contemperanea," i.
1889. Fasc. 2.
=Brachirolli.= "Notizie e documenti inediti intorno a Pietro Vannucci."
Perugia, 1874.
=Burckhardt.= "Art Guide to Painting in Italy." London, 1879.
=Bryan.= "Dictionary of Painters." London, 1893.
=Berenson, B.= "Central Italian Painters." London, 1897.
=Broussolle, J. C.= "Pèlerinages Ombriens." Paris, 1896.
=Cennino Cennini.= "Trattato della Pittura." Italian, sixteenth century.
"=Cennino Cennini=, The Book of the Art of." Translated by Mrs.
Herringham. London, 1899.
=Crowe and Cavalcaselle=. "Renaissance in Italy." London, 1877.
=Church, A. H.= "Cantor Lectures on Colours." London, 1890.
=Eastlake, Sir C.= "History of Painting."
=Gaye.= "Carteggio."
=Galetti, G.= "Lo Stile di Pietro Perugino e l'indirizzo dell' Arte
Moderna." Bologna, 1887.
="Gazette des Beaux Arts."=
=Hare, A.= "Cities of Central Italy." London, 1876.
=Heaton, Mrs.= "History of Painting." London, 1873.
=Hoefer.= "Bibliographical Dictionary." Paris, 1860.
=Jameson, Mrs.= All her works. London, 1872.
=Kugler.= "Handbook of Painting." London, 1855.
=Lanzi, Luigi.= "Storia Pittorica della Italia." Bassano, 1809.
=Lomazzo.= "Idea del tempio della Pittura." Rome, 1844.
=Lafenestre.= "Les Maitres anciens." 1882.
=Lafenestre.= "La Peinture Italienne."
=Lafenestre and Richtenburger.= "The Louvre." Paris, 1898.
=Luebke, W.= "History of Art." London, 1868.
=Laurie, A. P.= "Cantor Lectures on Vehicles and Pigments." London,
1892.
=Lupattelli, A.= "Storia della Pittura in Perugia." Foligno, 1895.
=Lupattelli, A.= "Petit Guide de Pérouse." Paris, 1895.
=Lee, Vernon.= "In Umbria." (Articles.)
=Muntz, E.= "Raphael." Translated by Armstrong. London, 1882.
=Muntz, M.= "La fin de la Renaissance."
=Marchesi.= "Il Cambio di Perugia." Prato, 1853.
=Mezzanotte.= "Della vita e delle opere di Pietro Vannucci." Perugia,
1836.
=Morelli.= "Italian Painters in German Galleries." London, 1882.
=Morelli.= "Italian Painters," Vols. i. and ii. London, 1892-3.
=Morelli.= "Della Pittura Italiana." Milan, 1897.
=Mariotti.= "Lettere Pittoriche Perugine." 1788.
=Orsini.= "Vita e Elegio dell' egregio pittore Perugino e degli Scolari
di esso." Perugia, 1804.
=Pascoli.= "Vite de Pittori Perugini."
=Passavant, J. D.= "Raphael d' Urbin et son père." Appendix, 445-461.
"Essai sur les Peintres de l'Ombrie." Paris, 1860.
=Poynter, Sir E. J.= "Classical and Italian Painting." 1897.
=Phillips, Claud.= "Perugino" in the "Portfolio." London, 1893.
=Rio, A. F.= "De l'Art Chrétien." Paris, 1874.
=Ris, Clement De.= "Les Musées de Province de France."
=Rosini.= "Storia della Pittura Italiana." Pisa, 1847.
=Rumohr.= "Italienische Forschungen," ii.
=Rossi, A.= "Storia artistica del Cambio di Perugia." Perugia, 1874.
=Rossi-Scotti.= "Guida Illustrata di Perugia." Perugia, 1878.
=Rea, Hope.= "Tuscan Artists." London, 1898.
=Symonds and Gordon.= "Story of Perugia." London, 1898.
=Symonds, J. A.= "Italian Byeways."
=Symonds, J. A.= "Sketches and Studies in Southern Europe."
=Symonds, J. A.= "Renaissance in Italy." London, 1877.
=Vasari, G.= "Delle Vite de piu Eccelenti Pittori." Firenze, 1550
=Vasari, G.= Mrs Foster's Translation. London, 1894.
=Vasari, G.= Blashfield and Hopkin's Edition. London, 1897.
=Vermiglioli.= "Memorie di Ber. Pinturicchio."
=Viardot.= "Les Merveilles de la Peinture." Paris, 1870.
=Woltman and Woerman.= "History of Painting." 1880.
=Yriarte, C.= "Isabella d'Este et les artistes de son temps."
ERRATUM
The Illustration facing page 100 should be described as _The Beckford
Altar-piece_, and not as _The Schiavone Altar-piece of 1507_.
The Schiavone Altar-piece named on pages 99 and 100 is not illustrated
in the volume.
G. C. W.
PERUGINO
CHAPTER I
BIRTH, MASTERS, AND ENVIRONMENT
It is not quite certain when Pietro Vannucci (called from the name of
his adopted town Perugino) was born, but the place of his birth he
himself announces in his signature. Probably his birth took place in
1446 or 1447 at the little town of Castello della Pieve, now called
Città della Pieve, as it was raised to the dignity of a city in 1601 by
Clement VIII. His signature preserves, in the words "Petrus de Castro
Plebis," the older name of his birthplace. Vasari gives his father's
name as Christofano, and tells us that he was a poor man; but Mariotti
reminds[A] his correspondent that the family, although a poor one, was
not of low condition, as it had enjoyed the rights of citizenship since
1427. He also mentions that one Pietro Vannucci was in 1424 a member of
the Guild of Stone-workers, and that in 1428 a member of the family
signed himself proudly as citizen of Perugia. It is probable that
Vasari's story of the boy having been brought into Perugia at a tender
age and put as shop drudge with a painter in that city is correct. Città
della Pieve is not more than some twenty-five miles from Perugia, and
although the town is near to Chiusi, yet Perugia, as the capital of the
district of Umbria, is the more important place, and to it naturally
would the lad be taken. Vasari speaks of the unknown painter to whom the
youthful Pietro Vannucci was sent as one who "was not particularly
distinguished in his calling, but who held the art in great veneration
and highly honoured the men who excelled therein."
It would be very interesting to know the name of this painter, as,
according to Vasari, he had great influence upon Pietro. "He did not
cease," Vasari continues, "to set before Pietro the great advantages and
honours that were to be obtained from painting by all who acquired the
power of labouring in it effectually, and kindled in the mind of his
pupil the desire to become one of those masters." We enter upon a
curious speculation when we begin to surmise the name of this master.
Lanzi speaks of an artist known as Pietro of Perugia, but conjectures
that Niccolò of Foligno (known also as Niccolò Liberatore, and
incorrectly as Niccolò Alunno) may have been Perugino's first master.
Mariotti attaches much more importance to the early teaching of
Bonfigli. Fanelli, quoted by Lupattelli,[B] speaks of "a poor and
obscure youth from Città della Pieve in the school of Alunno receiving
instruction from Niccolò Alunno and becoming eventually the immortal
Perugino, master of Raffaello." Crowe and Cavalcaselle take Bonfigli as
this early master, while later writers, notably Mr. Berenson, attach far
more importance to the training of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo.
Leaving out of consideration for a space the question of what Perugino
learned from Piero della Francesca and in the botegas of Florence, it
maybe well to briefly glance at the influences already named.
Niccolò da Foligno was perhaps the originator of the school of Umbrian
painters in which Perugino thereafter took so important a place. He was
clearly a pupil of Benozzo Gozzoli, who derived his training from Beato
Angelico; but into the sweetness, harmony, and tender feeling of these
earlier masters Niccolò forced a fiercer spirit, an uncompromising
realism, which is at times almost painful in its stress. Niccolò was a
man of forceful spirit, earnest and powerful, and with a certain dry
technique and rigid definition that is in full accord with the
penetrating spirit that composed the pictures. Foligno is quite close to
Perugia, and there is no difficulty in realising the presence of Niccolò
at times in that city. His influence is marked in Perugino's early work,
but it does not stand alone, and has associated with it characteristics
that could not have come from the Folignate botega. Bonfigli (Benedetto
Buonfiglio), to whom Vasari once refers at the conclusion of his life of
Pinturicchio, was the prominent painter of Perugia. He was greatly
esteemed in that city, and so largely confined his labours to his native
place that even now it is impossible, save in the gallery of that city,
to gain anything like an adequate knowledge of his art.
It was not, however, from Bonfigli that we consider the strong influence
came that affected Perugino's work. Much of Bonfigli's work was quite
beautiful; there is a fascinating grace about many of his figures; there
is a tenacious hold upon the laws of perspective, rich, varied, and
charming colouring, and a general pleasing result in composition and in
effect. There is, however, little virile force, very slight depth of
feeling, and, above all, an absence of the open space which is so
characteristic of later Umbrian art, and which has such a wondrous
effect in the pictures of the great Umbrian artists. Bonfigli's pictures
are crowded, Perugino's never were crowded. Bonfigli's are
illustrations, records, decorative effects ever full of figures, and of
detail, and with the beauty of certain single faces or separate groups
swamped by the crowd of ordinary objects. Perugino's pictures, whatever
may be their faults, never deserve this condemnation.
Fiorenzo di Lorenzo on the contrary, must certainly have been a master
from whom Perugino received no slight influence.
Once again it is needful to go to Perugia in order to study the works of
this artist, as away from the hill-top city the pictures of Fiorenzo di
Lorenzo, are few and far between.
In England there is one that is noteworthy, a "Virgin and Child,"
belonging to Mr. George Salting.
In the works of this artist we are at once struck by the aloofness that
distinguished Perugino. Single figures stand apart one from the other,
each slightly connected as by a thread of thought, and similarly each
with the central feature of the picture, but in every other way
self-contained. Here again are the placid Umbrian landscapes with which
later on we shall become so familiar, and the tall slender youths and
sweet women full of tender grace, that make their first appearance in
Umbrian art. There is a grace and charm in the work of Fiorenzo di
Lorenzo, that is far removed both from the fierce truth of the
Folignate's pictures and from the crowded stress of Bonfigli, and those
panels that tell the story of Bernardino in the Accademia at Perugia,
and which represent the artist at his very best, are possessed of a
fascination both in line, in colouring, and in movement that are
impressive to the highest degree.
Occasionally the artist was able to attach two or more of his figures to
one another by a gesture or a movement that formed a distinct and
noticeable link; but it was left for Perugino to still further develop
this power and to link his figures one by one into a single group when
he so desired, or at his will to keep them aloof one from the other, and
to the successors of Perugino to complete this power which Fiorenzo so
slightly commenced and which Perugino so greatly improved. In another
way can be seen the influence of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. The typical
Umbrian landscapes which are so important a feature in Perugino's
pictures first make their appearance in the works of this artist. The
special treatment of the landscape will be referred to in fuller detail
later on; but we may here mention that those expansive broad landscapes,
with distant hills bathed in a blue mist and revealing long stretches of
level fertile land on either side, with single trees, standing
silhouetted against the sky, which, like a vast arch of blue, frames in
the lovely scene, are noteworthy in Fiorenzo's pictures.
Finally, there is the pale golden sunlight to be seen in his works, a
sunlight which bathes all purely Umbrian art, but which does not appear
to any marked extent in the works of the Foligno school.
Having now briefly glanced at the leading characteristics of these
artists, it will be well to examine the work of one who was far greater
than either of those already named, and whose influence on Perugino is
very marked. I allude to Piero della Francesca. Whether, as Morelli
suggests, Perugino journeyed to Arezzo, where Piero was at work, and
aided him in his work, or placed himself under his tuition, or whether
Perugino met Piero at Borgo San Sepolcro or in Perugia, is immaterial.
It will suffice to understand that, somewhere near at home, and in the
early days of his training before Perugino journeyed to Florence, the
two men must have met, and Perugino learned much from the Tuscan-Umbrian
master and profited largely by his instruction.
One of the main features of Piero's art was his accurate knowledge of
perspective. He was, above all, a mathematician, well versed in
arithmetic and geometry, and the author of several treatises on the
science.
He rejoiced in complicated problems of perspective, in long vistas of
columns stretching away into the far distance, in mysterious hollows, in
exquisite alcoves, curves, and embrasures, in the perfectly accurate
drawing of roofs and rooms, and in the grouping of his figures in such
geometric array and such careful receding proportion as made clear the
charm that such mathematical arrangements had over the mind of the
artist.
There are, however, other characteristics of Piero's work, that must be
carefully noted in making a survey of his style. There is a wonderful
gravity and solemnity about his figures, a preoccupied look in most of
their faces, and we trace also the very beginning of that power already
mentioned, of linking figure to figure and group to group.
Certainly, in the long processions that form so essential a part of the
frescoes at San Francesco in Arezzo, there is a certain connection
running through the group of figures which are arranged in processional
order especially in the "Visit of the Queen of Sheba," the "Invention of
the Cross," and the "Exaltation of the Cross," but individually the
figures composing these groups are separate and distinct from one
another, engaged in their own concerns and holding no converse one with
the other. In these respects it was left for the later men, beginning
with Perugino, to pull the picture together and make it one harmonious
whole.
When to this aloofness, this curious want of sympathy between the
central group or scene in the picture and all the attendant groups or
figures, we add a severe absence of emotion, an impassiveness in the
faces of all the figures, together with a simple dignity of style and a
power of delineation that is very attractive, we begin to understand
Piero della Francesca. He never considered whether the faces of his
figures were specially suited to the group in which he used them. He is
quite unmoved by any ideas that the spectator may have as to fitness in
the picture, and he never reveals his own views as to the scene and its
appropriate presentation. Rage, pity, scorn, amazement, jealousy,
passion, or even the depth of devotion, are no part of Piero's
repertoire, but a quiet self-contained hauteur, a learned solemnity,
and a religious calm characterise his figures, both men and women. There
is abundance of dignity, stately form, earnest but impassive
determination, but, even in the battle scenes, nothing of the _Sturm und
Drang_ which would have been expected.
All these characteristics had direct influence upon Perugino, but even
beyond them can be seen other marks of this master's tuition. The
fantastic head-dresses that are to be seen in Piero's frescoes find
their counterpart in the frescoes of the Cambio; the very same scheme of
composition in "The Resurrection of Christ" in the Borgo San Sepolcro
Gallery is to be seen in one of Perugino's pictures; and the long vistas
of arches and careful geometric proportion and the absolutely accurate
drawing of arches and columns are to be equally realised in Piero's
picture in the Gallery at Perugia and in Perugino's altar-piece in the
Villa Albani. Even in the shape of the hand, the clear cameo-like
profile of the faces, and the detail of the feathers on the angels'
wings, the relationship between these painters is marked, and comparison
between the frescoes at Arezzo and the paintings in the Accademia will
be found to reveal these and other points of close contact.
In these early days of Perugino's life, it is therefore to the influence
of Niccolò Liberatore, of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, and, above all, of Piero
della Francesca, that we attribute the growth of his art and the success
of his later life.
One more artist he must have met in these days, as Luca Signorelli, who
was some five years his senior, was probably at Arezzo with Piero della
Francesca. Certain pictures of Perugino, notably the "Crucifixion," at
La Calza, and the similar scene painted around a carved crucifix now at
Perugia, the "Pietà" in the Accademia, and the "Love and Chastity" in
Paris, betray in their vigour, hardness, and movement some of
Signorelli's influence, an influence that only occasionally was to be
seen in the great Umbrian master.
Morelli[C] considers that Perugino's journey to Florence after his
Perugian training, of which Vasari speaks, took place in 1470, at which
time Perugino would be about twenty-five years old. His name is recorded
in the roll of St. Luke in 1472, and in the roll of the Physicians in
1499.
Vasari states that it was to Verrocchio that he went. Lanzi and Orsini
confirm this; Morelli gravely doubts it; Resta distinctly denies it;
Berenson rejects it; and certainly there is but little trace of such a
tutor in Perugino's work.
In the "Baptism" at the Accademia, which is an absolutely authentic
picture, although perhaps partly the work of Leonardo, and in the
"Madonna and Child" in the Uffizi, also attributed to Verrocchio, we
find nothing that would appear to have influenced Perugino, or that can
be recalled by his work, but if the magnificent bronze panel in the
Carmine Church at Venice is accepted as the work of Andrea del
Verrocchio then there is evidently a feeling in this work such as
Perugino would naturally have appreciated, and which does appear many
times in pictures by the Umbrian master. The position of the Christ on
the ground, and that of the women who bend over Him, the silent
meditative devotion of the two men and of the child who kneel on the
right, the attitude, wings, drapery, and movement of the flying angels,
and their very position with regard to the cross, all find answering
echoes in Perugino's work that are unmistakable in their clearness. What
is, however, of special importance to notice at this juncture is that
Perugino did not go to Florence in 1472 as a mere pupil or scholar.
Young in years as he undoubtedly was, he must have also been mature in
experience and in knowledge; for otherwise it is inconceivable that so
sagacious a Pontiff as Sixtus IV. should have sent for him eight years
afterwards and engaged him upon work in the Sistine Chapel.
Vasari specially states that the invitation was given because of
Perugino's great fame throughout Italy, and it is clear that a request
to work side by side with such men as Ghirlandajo, Cosimo Rosselli, and
Botticelli was so high a compliment that it would not be given to one
who was merely a student in Verrocchio's botega. There is no question
about the date of this invitation, as the original contract between the
Holy Father and the artists has been published, and it contains an
undertaking to furnish "ten stories" between October 27, 1481, and March
15, 1482.
Prior to these dates we hear of two other works executed by Perugino.
The earliest of all is recorded by Milanesi in his notes to the life in
Vasari. He states that in 1475 Perugino was commissioned to paint
certain frescoes in the Palazzo Publico in Perugia; but of these works
not a trace remains, and there is no evidence to support the learned
author's statement[D] Milanesi, moreover, further records the fact
that in 1478 Perugino worked at Cerqueto, painting some frescoes in a
chapel there, and one solitary figure of "San Sebastian" bearing that
date only now remains out of the entire decoration.
[Illustration:
_Private Photo_] [_Cerqueto_
SAINT SEBASTIAN, 1478]
To this interesting figure, the earliest known work of the master, a
reference will be made later on when consideration is given to other
representations of the same saint, but a record must here be made to the
Foligno, and to the Signorelli influence that this figure betrays. In
direct truth the figure might well be the work of Niccolò Liberatore,
and is conceived on the lines of his school. In nervous, tense muscular
representation, and in the movement of the limbs, it is strikingly
Signorellesque, and the realism of its wounds bespeaks the same
characteristic; but the silky treatment of the skin, the roundness of
the limbs, the upturned piteous face, the locks of hair, the
extraordinarily exaggerated size of the great toe, and, above all, the
intricate puckered folds of the drapery, are Perugino's and Perugino's
alone.
The painting of the drapery which becomes a mannerism, and one of the
most accurate of tests here in the very early days of the artist, takes
certain definite forms, and the dark hollows and curious hook-like folds
are to be seen in this "San Sebastian," not certainly as freely but
quite as definitely, as they appear in later days. The picture is but a
fragment of what must have been an important fresco, but it is eloquent
of better work to come, and shows promise of masterly execution that
only three years afterwards was to be revealed at Rome in the Sistine
Chapel. No other work exists to bridge over the time between Perugino's
early training in Umbria, his sojourn in Florence, and his return as a
well-known artist to the town and neighbourhood of Perugia, although
there is said to be a picture near Naples dated 1460, but the date is
probably apocryphal.
In Florence the artist would probably have met Leonardo da Vinci and
Lorenzo di Credi. If he attended at Verrocchio's studio he certainly
would have met them. In Florence also, Resta tells us, he studied
Masaccio's work, and we may be quite sure he used every endeavour to
perfect himself in his art; and it is to this period of residence that
Giovanni Santi refers in his oft quoted lines:
_"Due giovin par d'etate e par d'amori
Leonardo da Vinci e P Perusino
Pier della Pieve."_
--"Two youths alike in age and love Leonardo di Vinci and the Perugian
Peter of Pieve." He is mentioned in Florence in 1490 in one of the books
relating to the Cathedral, and there is a story of his having been fined
for fighting in Florence in 1488.
In the only picture that remains to us of the series executed by
Perugino in Rome for Sixtus IV. we see the result of all this Florence
training, but we are also confronted at once by the great
characteristic of the Umbrian school--free open space.
In considering this great feature, the most noteworthy characteristic of
Umbrian art, it is impossible to avoid reference to Mr. Bernhard
Berenson's pages and to his definition of what he terms "space
composition," which he defines in this way: "Space composition differs
from ordinary composition in the first place most obviously in that it
is not an arrangement to be judged as extending only laterally, or up
and down, on a flat surface, but as extending inwards in depth as well.
It is composition in three dimensions and not in two, in the cube and
not merely on the surface."[E]
Farther on he remarks: "This art comes into existence only when we get a
sense of space not as a void, as something merely negative such as we
customarily have, but on the contrary as something very positive and
definite, able to confirm our consciousness of being, to heighten our
feeling of vitality."
It is the wonderful art of space compositions which so distinguishes
Perugino from his Sistine Chapel days down to the end of his life.
The power is so well expressed by Mr. Berenson that nothing is needed to
further define it but he still further emphasises "space composition"
when he states that it is an "intrinsically religious art" capable of
"communicating the religious emotion" and able to "awaken in those who
looked at the pictures a consciousness of preference for a life holy and
refined."
In this first great picture "Christ giving the Keys to St. Peter," all
the power of this marvellous capability is at once apparent.
It produces a sense of vastness, of spaciousness, of broad, free, open
air enclosed only by the blue arch of Heaven, and therefore gathers up
and retains all the higher emotions of the spectator.
There are the grand figures in the foreground, majestic and wonderful in
their dignity; beyond them are others in the receding distance, smaller
and smaller as the eye notes the vast distance expressed in the picture.
In the centre rises the wonderful temple. Bramantesque and stately, and
beyond it, disappearing away into the horizon are the everlasting hills
that bound and yet seem to extend the broad space of the Umbrian
landscape the utmost distance of which is lost in the blue haze of the
sky.
The two triumphal arches at the sides serve to emphasise the great space
that the picture embraces and the effect is that of gazing through an
open window in Perugia or at Montefalco.
There is no sense of crowding, the space is so vast that the populace of
a country could not crowd it, and the air circulates in and around every
group and serves to give the greater _plein-air_ charm.
There is a soothing quiet about the whole, a self-restraint and a
stillness, and even though figure stands apart from figure and each one
hardly notices the other, yet there is a fine thread of common interest
to be seen connecting the whole of the foreground group and linking the
spectators to the two central persons, Christ and the Foundation of His
Church.
[Illustration:
_Alinari photo_] [_Sistine Chapel, Rome_
THE DELIVERY OF THE KEYS TO ST. PETER]
It is well when mentioning this great picture to state as a personal
opinion that it is not possible to appreciate Perugino adequately, or
even to understand him properly, without a visit to Umbria itself.
The country differs so much from other parts of Italy that mere
comparison with parts better known is useless, but when once the student
has sojourned in the country the charm of its landscape is felt and
understood. There is a vastness about its open spaces, an immensity of
view, boundless and yet enclosed, that must be seen to be understood.
To linger on the fortifications of Montefalco, to look out from the
public square of Trevi, to wander along the road that divides San
Girolamo from Spello, to drive along the plains of Foligno, to stay at
Nervi, Deruta, or Bettona, to gaze out over the plains around Assisi, or
to appreciate the wonderland that is mapped out around lofty
Perugia--all these are so many lessons to the right understanding of
Perugino. Away and away in the rolling distance are those vast plains,
not flat surfaces, but a luxuriant country-side, irregularly marked by
the contours of hills and valleys, dotted with tiny fortified towns
crowning each its own hill and looking down upon its neighbour. Great
white winding roads meander hither and thither, single trees stand out
in sharp tall silhouette against the intense blue of the sky, and around
as far as eye can reach stretch the half-hidden, half-revealed mountains
clothed in a purple haze while the golden glare of sunlight bathes all
the intervening space in its mystic light, tinging with gold the very
grass of the fields, the grey drab of the roads, the ruddy brown of the
buildings, and the radiance of the distant towers and houses.
All the Umbrian artists felt the charm of this scenery, but no one save
Perugino so fully and so consistently expressed it.
It is in all his works, and as one gazes out upon this "buoyant
spaciousness" of view, the wondrous creatures of his conceptions, holy
women, saints, prophets, apostles, religious guilds, praying populace,
seem once more to people the earth, and away in the eternal immeasurable
sky can be seen the Assumption, the angels, the mandorla of cherub
faces, the comforting seraphim and the glowing cherubim, as Perugino saw
them, and the sky is again the scene of the glories which faith enabled
Perugino to visualise and depict.
It is the knowledge of his own country and the wonderful power of space
composition that marks Perugino's pictures so emphatically as to enable
us to determine that the "Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter" is the only
fresco from the master's hand in the Sistine Chapel. It was Morelli who
first pointed out that Crowe and Cavalcaselle were in error in
attributing "Moses and Zipporah" and the "Baptism of Christ" to
Perugino, and I accept his teaching in this matter quite readily. A
careful study of the Sistine frescoes has convinced me that Morelli was
right and Crowe and Cavalcaselle wrong. Even the two central figures in
the disputed "Baptism," those of Christ and St. John, which are compared
with the two similar figures in the predella at Rouen, which is
undoubtedly authentic, and with the same scene in the National Gallery,
which I consider a copy only of the master's work, betray the hand of
Pinturicchio rather than that of Perugino.
In the fresco at Rome, the two figures are crowded closely together;
the arm of Our Lord almost rests on St. John's head, the face of the
saint is weak and feeble, the limbs are skinny and badly drawn, there is
no sense of security in the feet, the hands are out of proportion and
the draperies entirely lack the hook folds of Perugino, and are loose
and inadequate. Above all, neither figure stands upon its two feet; in
the case of the Christ one foot alone supports the whole body, a mistake
that Perugino never makes. The whole picture is crowded with figures and
hemmed in with hills. It is pictorial certainly, and effective, but it
entirely lacks the spaciousness of Perugino. There is a feeling of crush
and crowd such as Perugino never gives, and a total absence even in the
landscape of that extensive vista of scenery, that breadth of treatment
which is so important. Even the representation of the Eternal Father
within the mandorla of cherubs and attended by angels is not placed high
up in the illimitable aerial space, but almost touches a neighbouring
hill, and serves but to overfill the picture and make its crowded
composition a wearisome burden. Compare for a moment the predella at
Rouen. The two central figures stand apart one from the other, and
therefore stand out clearly and distinctly, while yet near enough for
their mutual actions to be closely connected. They stand firmly and well
balanced on their feet, the slight exaggeration of one of St. John's
feet, being due to an accurate understanding on Perugino's part of the
distortion apparently given to the limb by its being below the surface
of the water. Around are the kneeling angels and attendant figures,
eight only in number, carefully graduated in size according to
position, aloof, serious, quiet, and still. Away and beyond is the
rolling landscape, with its exquisite hills and dainty detached trees
standing out clear against the sky. On and on the eye travels, eager to
reach the limits of this limitless vision, and impressed more and more
by the skill that painted in so tiny a compass so vast a scene. Above is
the sky free from any crowd of spirits, and reaching up to unimagined
heights.
Here is undoubtedly Perugino's work; but at Rome we see merely a clever
overcrowded picture, an illustration simply, and most evidently the work
of Pinturicchio. Three other frescoes in this chapel Perugino did
undoubtedly paint for Sixtus IV., covering the eastern wall. They
depicted the "Assumption," into which he introduced the kneeling figure
of the Pope, the "Nativity," and the "Finding of Moses," but all these
works were swept away during the Pontificate of Pope Paul III. to make
way for the tremendous work of Michel Angelo, "The Last Judgment." It is
infinitely to be regretted that no replica of these frescoes was
retained, as the "Delivery of the Keys" is so superb a composition, that
it but increases the desire of the spectator to know what Perugino's
other frescoes were in the same chapel.
The payment for the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel was not authorised
till August 8th, 1489, as Mariotti[F] records that at that time Perugino
was entitled to draw on the Apostolic _camera_ at Perugia for 180
ducats, being the balance of money due for pictures in the Apostolic
chapel. On the 5th of March 1490 Perugino gave a receipt in Perugia for
that money.
[Illustration:
_Petiton photo_] [_Rouen_
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST
(_A predella panel from the San Pietro (Perugia) altar-piece_)]
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Mariotti, "Lettere Pittoriche Perugine," 1788, v. 121.
[B] "Storia della Pittura," A. Lupattelli. Foligno, 1895.
[C] "Italian Painters," ii. 107.
[D] Eastlake, however, refers to a picture painted for Luca degli'
Albizzi for which the artist was paid 100 gold crowns. At this time, it
was, he says, in the Palazzo Albizzi, and he says it was executed prior
to 1478, as in that year Luca, who was in the Pozzi conspiracy, was
exiled for twenty-five years. This picture cannot now be traced.
[E] "Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance," 96.
[F] Mariotti, p. 150.