About the Artist

Pietro Perugino (c. 1448 Citta della Pieve, near Perugia-1523 Fontignano), born Pietro de Cristoforo Vannucci, stands as one of the major masters of the Umbrian School and a trail blazer of the High Renaissance. His early apprentice years were probably spent in Perugia, and from 1472 he was a member of the painter's guild in Florence, where he may also have been a student of Andrea de Verrocchio and Piero della Francesca. Following their example, Perugino took up issues in the design of bodies in space as well as the balance between pictorial surface and pictorial space. In the process he arrived at balanced and self-contained compositions with a soft, unified coloration. Active in Umbria, Venice, and Tuscany, Perugino Often worked in Rome between 1478 and 1492. By the end of his career he was occupied exclusively in Florence. The peak of his creativity was reached around 1500, when the young Raphael entered his workshop as a pupil. Works by the artist include The Vision of St. Bernard, 1489, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Crucifixion, c. 1495, S. Maria Magdalena dei Pazzi, Florence; and Struggle between Chastity and Love, 1540/45, Musee du Louvre, Paris.