Pietro Perugino

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. - The only exhibition to be seen in the United States and the first show in more than 50 years internationally of the work of Italian Renaissance master painter Pietro Perugino is at the Grand Rapids Art Museum through February 1.

Perugino (c1450-1523), considered one of the most distinguished painters of the Italian Renaissance, provided the foundation for the aesthetic developments of the High Renaissance, especially the art of Raphael.

Highlighting "Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance" is the unprecedented loan of nine works from the Galleria Nazionale dell' Umbria in Perugia, Italy, the largest repository of works by Perugino in the world. These works have never been shown outside of Italy.

Also included are loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Grand Rapids Art Museum is the only venue for this landmark display.

Celebrated for his graceful figural compositions, clarity of color and form, and the then novel use of an illusionistic landscape space, Perugino's paintings were eagerly sought out and attracted a large number of students and followers.

Perugino was among the most popular artists in late Fifteenth and early Sixteenth Century Italy. Born outside of Perugia around 1450, Perugino received his initial training in Perugia and subsequently in Florence in the workshop of Andrea Verrocchio. In 1472, Perugino was accepted into the painters' guild, the Academy of St Luke. He began receiving some of the most distinguished commissions of his day and his reputation soon attracted the attention of Pope Sixtus IV. Among his commissions was the decoration of the walls of the Sistine Chapel with Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Cosimo Roselli. Perugino not only painted the masterpiece for this project, "Christ Delivering the Keys to Saint Peter," he is credited as the designer for the entire project, undeniably the most important of its day.

Perugino's workshops in Perugia and Florence were known both for the number of masterworks they produced and for the artists whose talents Perugino helped develop. Chief among these, of course, was the young Raphael, who studied in Perugino's studio and whose mature style owes much to the art of his teacher. Perugino's influence on Quattrocentro painting is evident in the commentaries of Giorgio Vasari, Renaissance painter and the first historian of Italian art.

The art of Perugino has remained popular throughout the ages. His work has been collected by such notable Americans as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Mellon, Edsel Ford, and Samuel Kress. A significant number of masterpieces by Perugino are now in the permanent collections of this country's major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Although Perugino's paintings have been greatly appreciated by American audiences, his works have never been seen collectively, since many are considered too fragile to travel.

"Perugino: Master of The Italian Renaissance" comprises more than 30 paintings and drawings. Nine panel paintings secured from the Galleria Nazionale in Perugia after five years of extensive research and intensive negotiations by exhibition curator Joseph Becherer, a team of leading scholars, and representatives from both Italian and American embassies, are on view for the first time to American audiences and from the heart of the exhibition. These loans are a direct result of the Sister-City relationship between Grand Rapids and Perugia, and represent Perugia's contribution to the ongoing cultural exchange between the two cities.

One of the most significant works in the exhibition, "Madonna della Giustizia," circa 1500, on loan from the Galleria Nazionale, was painted at the height of Perugino's career. Depicting everyday members of Perugia's community, the painting gives an artistic and historic perspective of Fifteenth Century Perugia. The works from the Galleria Nazionale are complemented by more than twenty additional paintings and drawings from leading American institutions. Among these is a series of four panel paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago which are exhibited for the first time in 100 years alongside the fifth panel in the series, on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The exhibition is documented by a catalogue examining the works in the exhibition, the career of the artist, and the era in which he worked. This will be the first such work on Perugino published in English. The contributing scholars to the catalogue, who also serve as consultants to the exhibition, include guest curator Becherer, Bruce Cole, and Vittoria Garibaldi.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum is at Pearl Street and Division Avenue. Telephone 616/459-5616.