elangelo to carry out his design.
In 1486, after the Sistine Chapel com-
mission ended, Perugino moved to Flo-
rence, where he completed several major
works in which human figures are artfully
placed in a setting of classical architecture
to achieve a sense of symmetry and seren-
ity. These works includeThe Vision of St.
Bernardand atondo, or circular painting,
entitled The Madonna Enthroned with
Saints, both painted in the mid-1490s, as
well as aCrucifixionpainted for the Santa
Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi in Florence.
Perugina established a thriving workshop
in Florence but found his work coming
under criticism in the city’s highly charged
and competitive atmosphere. Sometime
around 1496 he moved back to Perugia,
where he remained for the rest of his life.
He completed an altarpiece,The Ascension,
for the Church of San Pietro and in 1497
he began work on a fresco series in the
Audience Hall of Perugia’s Collegio del
Cambio, the guild hall of the city’s bank-
ers. Historians consider two of Perugino’s
designs,The NativityandThe Transfigura-
tion, to be among the finest examples of
his work, showing a mastery of composi-
tion and architectural perspective. The
walls also carry a variety of portraits of
Greeks and Romans, depictions of the car-
dinal virtues, and a self-portrait; historians
believe that the younger Raphael, at the
time Perugino’s apprentice, may have
helped him complete the work.
Perugino won several commissions
from the aristocratic patrons, including
Isabella d’Este, for whom he paintedThe
Triumph of Chastity. He was still unsuc-
cessful in winning the respect of his peers,
however, and on one occasion had his abil-
ity insulted by Michelangelo himself. Un-
successfully suing Michelangelo for belit-
tling his character, Perugino responded
withThe Madonna and Saints, a multi-
paneled altarpiece completed in the Cer-
tosa of Pavia. He returned to Rome on the
invitation of Pope Julius II in 1508 to paint
sections of the Stanza dell’Incendio del
Borgo in the Vatican, but found his own
paintings overlooked for the masterpieces
of his pupil, Raphael. Finally returning to
Perugia in 1512, he completed frescoes for
the Church of Madonna delle Lacrime in
Trevi and for the monastery of Sant’
Agnese in Perugia. He died during a plague
epidemic in 1524.SEEALSO: painting; Raphael; Verrocchio,
Andrea delPetrarch ..........................................
(1304–1374)
Italian poet and scholar who idealized the
classical world and introduced a new, hu-
manist sensibility to the secular literature
of Italy. Born in Arezzo, in Tuscany, he
was the son of a notary of Florence who
had been exiled from the city. In 1312, the
family moved to Avignon, the city of
southern France that was serving as the
seat of the Catholic popes. He studied at
the University of Montpellier, also in
France, and the University of Bologna,
where he trained as a lawyer. His interest
in poetry was strongly discouraged by his
father, who on one occasion seized and
burned several volumes of ancient Latin
authors found in his son’s possession.
After the death of his father Petrarch
gave up the study of law and returned to
Avignon. In 1330 he joined the household
of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, a member
of an aristocratic Roman family. Granted
the freedom to travel and study, Petrarch
journeyed to France, Germany, and the
Low Countries in 1333, searching in
churches, libraries, and monasteries for
forgotten classical manuscripts. He began
writing poetry and in 1342 produced a setPetrarch