I was born in 1446 A.D. Citta della Pieve, Umbria, Italy. I was baptized as Pietro Cristofo Vannucci. There is not much known about my mother in the modern day, but my father was known by the name of Cristoforo Vannucci, the name in which I share. My names have been modified over the years, but they all refer back to me. Some of my semi-diverse names are: Pietro Perugino Vannucci, Piero di Cristoforo Vannucci, and Pietro Vannucci. I signed all my work with the name of Petrus de Castro Plebus(1); however, I am most commonly known as Perugino. I was very well educated and respected, attending the School of Umbria.
I was a teacher to a few very well known Renaissance painters, including the ever famous Raphael, who painted the School of Athens. Many scholars and historians notice that my work and my early pupil Raphael's tend to have a similar look to them and some were confused at times to which painter they actually belonged.
I had an assistant who helped me with a lot of my work. His name was Pinturricho, and he was my pupil, colleague and helper all in one. When he accompanied me in my travels and assisted me in my work, he earned one third of my profit. One painting he helped me with was Saint Sebastian at Cerqueto, 1478.
During my life throughout the Classical Renaissance period, I travelled to many places such as Perugia, Umbria, Florence, Rome Venice, Matua, and Arezzo.
After leaving Florence in 1480, I was recruited by Pope Sixtus the 4th to paint three large panels in the Sistine Chapel. (I was about forty years old at that time) However, two of them were destroyed to make room for all of Michelangelo’s masterpiece of the Last Judgment. One remains today: The Giving of the Keys to Saint Peter.
The best years of my art occurred between 1490 and 1500. After that, I made new paintings and frescos but I also included many similar images to the others I created. "the painter had employed in the composition of the Assumption of the Virgin figures that he had previously used in other works. Perugino did not deny this but pointed out that his figures had always before been admired." (2) (explained by Giorgio Vasari, who was a 15th century historian, about a double-sided altarpiece that I created in a Florentine Church in 1507.)
My popularity suffered a little bit afterwards. One example of this was when I was recruited by Pope Julius the 2nd to paint a fresco, the Incendio del Borgo in the Vatican City. However, shortly after I began to work on it, I was replaced by my ex-student Raphael.
I still painted a few frescos and portraits over the next few years. I died from the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) in 1523 or 1524, historians aren't quite sure, while painting a fresco in the Castello di Fortinago, maybe the Nativity scene. (Again scholars are not sure.)
(1)Gillet, Louis. "Perugino." New Advent. 1 Feb. 1911. Robert Appleton Company. 25 Jan. 2008 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11737b.htm.
(2)Michelle O'Malley. "Quality, Demand, and the Pressures of Reputation: Rethinking Perugino. " The Art Bulletin 89.4 (2007): 674-0_7. Platinum Periodicals. ProQuest. Simms Library, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 4 Feb. 2008 ..
