Pietro Vannucci, called PeruginoWilliamson, George C.
History
Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino
Williamson, George C.
Perugino, approximately 1450-1523
These figures are arranged in one long line, each figure standing
separately apart from the others, lonely and abstracted. The warriors
are singularly unlike what a more pagan artist would have depicted. They
are dainty, dreamy, gentle knights, almost feminine in their grace of
limb and countenance, and in their elegance of costume and pose. In
their head-dresses the fancy of the artist has run wild. Nothing is too
extraordinary for Perugino to devise, and, fond as he always was of
eccentric helmets and mitres, he has given full play to his imagination
in these Cambio groups, and decked his heroes in the most extraordinary
and extravagant helmets that even his fancy could invent. The armour and
the costume of the figures also show how exuberant was the artist's
fancy, and in the shape and decoration of the shields especially he
gave it full play. Despite all these drawbacks, there is a certain
stately grace about the figures, the drawing is accurate, the
proportions good, and the attitudes natural, although just a little
forced. The most important work of all is in the large bay opposite to
the warriors and philosophers. This is styled the "Triumph of Religion,"
and represents the Prophets and the Sibyls standing together in
converse, and above them is the Eternal Father, who is attended by two
angels, and who is raising His hand in blessing. There is more power,
breadth, and movement in this group than in the others, and there is
closer connection between the various figures. They are more certainly
interested one in the other, and in conversation one with the other;
while as regards their draperies there is a broad, full sweeping
treatment that is very marked, and deserves careful attention.
One more point may well be noted, that, fond as Perugino was of
inscriptions and names on his pictures, of Latin verses, and of Latin
signatures, in none of them is there such a profusion of inscriptions as
in the Cambio, and every letter is most carefully drawn with the pencil,
and is admirable in its proportions and clearness. One scene is
practically unique. On but one other occasion, as far as I am aware, did
Perugino paint the "Transfiguration," and then he carried out but little
of the picture himself. Vasari incorrectly styles it the "Resurrection."
This latter scene Pietro represented many times, and even Crowe and
Cavalcaselle, careful as they usually were, have confused the
"Transfiguration" with the "Resurrection" when they refer to the Fano
altar-piece. The three disciples in the Cambio fresco are grouped very
much in the way in which Pietro grouped the sleeping disciples in the
Accademia picture. The attitude of the Christ closely resembles that of
the Christ in the Vatican "Resurrection"; but, this resemblance
accepted, the connection between the two representations is at an end.
[Illustration:
_Alinari photo_] [_The Cambio, Perugia_
PORTRAIT OF PERUGINO, 1500]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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