Giorgio Vasari

“ It was the custom of Pietro, who was a man that did not confide in any one, when going or returning from the abovenamed Gastello to Perugia, to carry all the money which he possessed at the time about his person; this being known, certain men waylaid him at a place on the road, and robbed him of all that he had, but, at his earnest entreaty, they spared his life for the love of God. ”

“ Pietro possessed but very little religion, and could never be made to believe in the immortality of the soul, nay, most obstinately did he reject all good counsel, with words suited to the stubbornness of his marble-hard brain. He placed all his hopes in the goods of fortune, and would have undertaken any thing for money; he gained great riches indeed, and bought, as well as built, several large houses in Florence; at Perugia also, and at Gastello della Pieve, he bought a considerable amount of property. ”

“ Pietro painted a picture of the Dead Christ, the colouring of which was so beautiful as well as new, that it awakened in the artists of the time an expectation of the excellence which Pietro was destined to attain. In this work there are some most admirable heads of old men, and the Maries also, having ceased to weep, are contemplating the departed Saviour with an expression of reverence and love which is singularly fine: there is, besides, a Landscape, which was then considered to be exceedingly beautiful ”

“ Giovanni Spagnuolo, called Lo Spagna, was another disciple of Pietro Perugino: this artist was a better colourist than any of the scholars left by Pietro at his death, and, after that event, would, without doubt, have established himself in Perugia, if the envy of the painters of that city, who were most unfriendly to foreign artists, had not persecuted him to such a degree that he was compelled to depart. He then retired to Spoleto, where his excellence and ability obtained for him a wife of good family, and he was, besides, made a citizen of Spoleto. ”

“ In the same court, and over the arches resting on the columns, our artist executed a frieze wherein were heads of the size of life, and among them was that of the Prior himself, so life-like, and painted in so good a manner, that the best judges among artists have declared it to be the most perfect work ever performed by this master. ”

“ Pietro formed many masters in his own manner, among these was one who proved to be indeed most excellent, one who devoted himself wholly to the honourable studies of his art, and very greatly surpassed his master; this was no other than the wondrous Raffaello Sanzio of Urbino, who together with his father, Giovanni de’ Santi, worked many years with Pietro Perugino.
The painter Benedetto Pinturicchio, of Perugia, was also a disciple of Pietro, whose manner he always retained, as we have related in his life. Rocco Zoppo, [59] a Florentine painter, was likewise the disciple of this master. ”

“ When he was gone, the master gathered the ultra-marine from the bottom of the bowl, and when he thought the proper time for doing so was come, he returned it to the Prior,—saying to him. “This belongs to you, father, learn to trust honest men, for such never deceive those who confide in them, although they well know how to circumvent distrustful persons like yourself, when they desire to do so.” ”

“ It was liis wont to say, and almost in the manner of a proverb, that after bad weather the good must come; and that when it is fair weather, a man must build his house, that he may thus be under shelter when he most needs it.
But to the end that the progress of this artist may be the better understood, I begin with his beginning, and relate that, according to common report, there was born in the city of Perugia, to a poor man called Christofano, [3] of Gastello della Pieve, a son, whom, at his baptism, they named Pietro. ”

“ The boy would thus often inquire of such persons as he knew to have seen the world, in what city the best artists were formed? This question he addressed more particularly to his instructor, from whom he constantly received the same reply, namely, that Florence was the place, above all others, wherein men attain to perfection in all the arts, but more especially in painting. ”

“ But as these works are not of equal excellence with some others by this master, it is considered certain that they are among the first which he executed. In San Lorenzo, which is the cathedral of that city (Perugia) , there is a Madonna by the hand of Pietro, in the chapel of the Crocifisso, with the Maries, San Giovanni, San Lorenzo, San Jacopo, and other saints. [36] For the altar of the sacrament, where the ring with which the Virgin Mary was espoused is preserved, this master painted an altar-piece representing the Marriage of Our Lady. ”

“ Before the platform of the high altar, and against the screen abovementioned, was a choir of the Doric order, admirably carved in walnut-wood, and over the principal door of the church was another choir, or gallery, supported on a strong wood-work, the under part of which as seen from below represented a canopy, overlaid with a rich decoration in beautifully arranged compartments ”

“ The third cause, which is, perhaps, not less effectual than the other two, is the desire for glory and honour, which is powerfully generated by the air of that place, in the men of every profession, and whereby all who possess talent are impelled to struggle, that they may not remain in the same grade with those whom they perceive to be only men like themselves (much less will any consent to remain behind another) , even though they may acknowledge such to be indeed Masters ”

“ One of the most important is an Adoration of the Magi in fresco, now much injured by the humidity of the place. The Madonna in this picture is said to be by Raphael, as is also a little dog who is barking at some horses. ↑ Mezzanotte and other writers defend Pietro against the charges of irreligion and avarice brought against him by Vasari, and there is ground to hope that the biographer has spoken with too little consideration, even from what he has himself related of the Prior and his ultra-marine. ”

“ A traffic was also made of his works, as we have said, by many who sent them into divers places before the manner of Michael Agnolo became known; but the latter, having made manifest the good and true path in these arts, has brought them to that perfection which we shall see when we come to the third part of this work, soon to follow: wherein we shall treat of the excellence and per fections thereof, and wherein it will be proved to artists, that whoever will study and labour continually and not capriciously, or in the mere pursuit of fantasies ”

“ The benefits derived by some men of distinction from the poverty of tbeir youth, and how potent an assistant poverty sometimes proves in the cultivation of the faculties and for the attainment of excellence, may be clearly perceived in the history of Pietro Perugino. [1] This artist, seeking to escape from the extreme of penury in Perugia, departed to Florence, hoping, by means of his abilities, to attain to some distinction. ”

“ Meanwhile the Servite Monks of Florence, desired to have the picture for their high altar painted by some master of great renown, and had given the commission for it to Filippo Lippi on account of the departure of Leonardo da Vinci to France, but the former, when he had completed the half of one, out of the two pictures, of which the Altar-piece was to be composed, departed to another life; whereupon the monks, moved hj the faith they had placed in Pietro, confided the whole ’work to his care. ”

“ Rocco painted numerous pictures of the Madonna, and took many portraits, of which there is no need to speak further; but I will not omit to r<^late that this artist executed the portrait of Girolamo Riario, in the Sistine chapel in Rome, with that of F. Pietro, cardinal of San Sisto. Another disciple of Pietro was Montevarchi, [60] who painted many pictures in San Giovanni, in Valdarno, more particularly for the church of the Madonna, where he exe- 326 LIVES OF THE ARTISTS. cuted a story representing the Miracle of the Milk. This master left many works, in his native place, of Montevarchi. ”

“ The certain but grievous truth being, says an Italian writer, that it is lost to Italy. ↑ The Transfiguration, and not the Resurrection, as here asserted by Vasari, and repeated by all who have followed him. —Masselli. ↑ Pittacus, not Pythagoras. ↑ Publius Scipio, rather. ↑ For details respecting the Sybils, and the oflice assigned to them by certain theologians, see Blondell, Den Sibylles Celebres; Clasen, De Oraculis Gentilium. See also St. Augustine, De Civil. Dei., m.ddd.xlvii. ↑ The inscription was not written by Pietro, but by his fellow citizens ”

“ Severo was rebuilt from the foundations about the middle of the last century. The wall of the chapel on which are the works of Pietro and Raphael, was however preserved, and is still in the monastery, but in a very confined position.—See Orsini, as cited above. ↑ For various details respecting the works of Pietro, in these and other places, see Mezzanotte, Della Vila e deUe opere di Pietro Vanned da Castello della Pieve, Commentario Istorico.— Perugia, 1836. ↑ This picture was taken to France, where it is supposed to remain. ”

“ See Mezzanotte, as cited above. The picture of the Baglioni chapel here described is now in the Gallery of the Academy of Perugia. His frescoes in the Exchange are still in existence. ↑ His name was not Benedetto, but Giambattista. ”