in su (below to above) situated the viewer’s eye below the
ground line of the pictorial space in an extreme form of
foreshortening.
The status accorded to the theory of perspective in the
Renaissance is tellingly indicated by the appearance of the
personification of “Prospettiva,” along with the traditional
seven liberal arts, in the bronze reliefs made in 1493 by
Antonio del POLLAIUOLOfor the tomb of Pope Sixtus IV.
During the 16th century treatises on the subject prolifer-
ated, not all of them written by practicing artists as math-
ematicians too became interested. Daniele BARBARO’s La
Practica della perspettiva (1568/69), which drew heavily
on Piero della Francesca’s De prospettiva pingendi, was one
of the most widely read of these works. The math-
ematician Giovanni Battista Benedetti (1530–90) made an
important contribution to understanding the geometrical
aspects of the subject with his De rationibus operationum
perspectivae, published as part of his Diversarum specula-
tionum physicarum et mathematicarum liber (1585). It was
even considered an appropriate field of study for princes:
Salomon de CAUS, dedicating his La Perspective (1612) to
Henry, Prince of Wales, mentions that he had given the
prince lessons in perspective over the past two or three
years.
See also: ANAMORPHOSIS
Further reading: Judith Veronica Field, The Invention
of Infinity: Mathematics and Art in the Renaissance (Oxford,
U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1997); John White, The
Birth and Rebirth of Pictorial Space (London: Faber, 1957;
3rd ed. 1987).
Perugia A city in Umbria, central Italy. Perugia was orig-
inally an Umbrian foundation, then Etruscan, Roman, and
Lombard. It was annexed by the papacy in 1303. During
the 14th and 15th centuries Perugia was the scene of bit-
ter internal conflicts from which the BAGLIONI FAMILYhad
emerged with the greatest success in the 15th century.
Rome allowed Perugia considerable autonomy until 1540,
when Pope PAUL IIIabolished Perugia’s municipal powers
after the city’s unsuccessful revolt against papal authority
in the SALT WAR.
During the 14th century the university of Perugia
(founded 1308) was an important center for the study of
Roman law under the direction of Bartolus of Sassoferrato.
In the 15th century it was the focus of the Umbrian school
of painting, with which such distinguished artists as PE-
RUGINO, PINTURICCHIO, and the young RAPHAELwere asso-
ciated. Notable Renaissance landmarks include the
13th-century city walls, the cathedral (1345–1430), the
oratory of San Bernardino (1457–61) with its facade by
AGOSTINO DI DUCCIO, and the Collegio del Cambio
(1452–57) with frescoes by Perugino.
Perugino, Pietro Vanucci (c. 1445–1523) Italian artist
Born at Città della Pieve, near Perugia, Perugino possibly
began his career under the tutelage of PIERO DELLA
FRANCESCA, although little is known for certain about his
early training. He then moved to Florence, where he prob-
ably worked in the workshop run by VERROCCHIO—possi-
bly alongside Leonardo da Vinci—and became familiar
with oil painting techniques. In 1472 he was listed as one
of the painters of the company of St. Luke in Florence, and
by 1481 he was well known enough to be employed by
Pope Sixtus IV on the frescoes for the Sistine Chapel.
Working there alongside ROSSELLI, GHIRLANDAIO, BOTTI-
CELLI, and others, and with PINTURICCHIOas his assistant,
Perugino executed such influential paintings as Christ De-
livering the Keys to St. Peter (1482), upon which his repu-
tation was established. Other works from this period
included an important altarpiece, the Crucifixion with
Saints (1481; National Gallery of Art, Washington), which
is remarkable for its use of an extensive landscape as a set-
ting. Such a sense of space, with the figures close to the
front of the composition, is characteristic of much of Pe-
rugino’s work.
During the 1490s Perugino, who was always prolific,
produced further notable works, including the Vision of St.
Bernard (1491–94; Alte Pinakothek, Munich), a Pietà
(1494–95; Uffizi, Florence), and a Madonna with Saints
(1491–92; Louvre, Paris). Between 1498 and 1500 Perug-
ino undertook the decoration of the audience chamber of
the Collegio del Cambio at Perugia, working alongside his
pupil RAPHAEL; among the biblical, allegorical, and classi-
cal figures there is Perugino’s famous self-portrait in a red
cap. This shows the naturalism that appears in several of
his portraits, for example that of Francesco delle Opere in
the Uffizi, in contrast to the idealized and gracefully dec-
orative figures of his religious and allegorical pictures.
After Raphael’s death, Perugino completed several of his
unfinished paintings, although his own works after 1500
showed a marked decline in standard, becoming increas-
ingly sentimental in tone. Among his later works is the
fresco of the Adoration of the Magi (1504) in the church of
Sta. Maria dei Bianchi in his native town. By 1506 his style
had become outmoded and Perugino retired to Perugia,
where he died.
Further reading: Joseph Antenucci Becherer et al,
Pietro Perugino, Master of the Italian Renaissance (Milan,
Italy: Rizzoli, 1997).Peruzzi, Baldassare (Tommaso) (1481–1536) Italian
painter, architect, and stage designer
Born in Siena, Peruzzi moved to Rome in 1503, where he
came under the influence of Bramante and Raphael and
contributed designs for St. Peter’s. Peruzzi’s first major ar-
chitectural achievement was the Villa FARNESINA(1509–
21) in Rome, a building in the High Renaissance style in
which he also executed notable frescoes and experi-PPeerruuzzzzii,, BBaallddaassssaarree 3 36699