The National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia, Italy

When we used Perugia’s minimetro to go into the city centre we went to the Galleria Nazionale dell’ Umbria to see paintings by Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Perugino, Pinturrichio, Duccio di Buoninsegna and many others. We also saw the frescoes by the Umbrian artist, Perugino, in the chamber of the money changers’ guild (Collegio del Cambio) and the superb intarsia wooden panels in the Merchants’ Guild (Sala del Collegi della Mercanzia). The National Gallery, Perugino’s frescos and the Merchant’s Guild are located in the Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia’s impressive medieval civic building.

The Palazzo dei Priori & the Corso Vannucci, Perugia, Umbria

Perugino’s Frescoes in the Collegio del Cambio, Perugia, Umbria

Frescoes by Perugino, Collegio di Cambio, Perugia

The entrance to the Collegio del Cambio is a small door to the left of the main entrance of the Palazzo dei Priori. There is a tiny sign, but it’s very easy to miss if you don’t know what you’re looking for. It’s worth buying a combined day ticket for all the museums in Perugia if you are going on the National Gallery of Perugia. It’s considerably cheaper than buying individual tickets and you can also visit other places in Perugia, for example, the Etruscan Well and the Raphael / Perugino fresco in the church of San Severino.

Pietro Vannucci, known as Il Perugino, trained with both Piero della Francesca and Verrocchio, he combined the skilled compostion and spatial awareness of the former with the naturalistic painting of the latter. He was one of the first painters to master aerial, or bird’s eye perspective, the technique which fades colours out to blue with distance. You can see his use of aerial perspective in his depiction of the Umbrian countryside in the Collegio del Cambio frescoes. These paintings are among his greatest achievements.

Detail from the Perugino Frescoes in the Collegio del Cambio, Perugia

Renaissance, or humanist thinkers looked back to the civilisations of Greece and Rome for inspiration. They did not see anything wrong with combining pagan symbolism and characters from classical antiquity with Biblical figures and stories. These frescoes were based on a scheme devised by Francesco Maturanzio, a humanist scholar at the University and secretary to the ruling council. A few decades later, the Counter Reformation decreed that religious art had to have strictly Christian themes; a fresco such as this, which depicts Old Testament Prophets with Greek Sybils and signs of the Zodiac alongside Christian symbolism, would have been deemed unacceptable. It is ironic that these beautiful frescoes were painted while the powerful Baglioni family’s opposing factions were busy murdering each other in the streets of Perugia. Look for Perugino’s self portrait, painted in fresco to look as if it is a picture hanging on the wall.

Perugino's Self-Portrait in the Collegio del Cambio, Perugia

Sala del Collegio della Mercanzia, Merchants’ Guild, Perugia Umbria

If you turn left and walk beyond the main entrance to the Palazzi dei Priori, you will find the entrance to the Sala del Collegi della Mercanzia, the impressive wood panelled meeting room of the Merchants’ Guild. Each small wooden tile is inlaid with intricate intarsia geometric patterns. The merchant’s guild must have been extremely wealthy to afford such lavish decoration. Looking around the light absorbing panels, you do have to wonder how gloomy it was before electric lighting was invented.

Sala del Collegio della Mercanzia in Perugia, Umbria.

The National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia

The National Gallery of Umbria is a treasure trove of art, I tend to move swiftly through the medieval art with it’s endless repetitions of Madonna con Bambino  and the Crucifixtion. As a first time visitor you might be tempted to spend a little longer here.

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Perugia, Umbria

Duccio di Buoninsegna's Madonna and Child, Perugia

Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Madonna con Bambino is definitely a cut above the other medieval painters. The figures in this painting have more life to them than the other Byzantine influenced pictures. The art of Byzantium, or Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire, could never attempt to depict subjects realistically because of the belief in Orthodox Christianity that true to life portrayals of Biblical figures was considered heretical, the term iconclast comes from Byzantium and the destruction of icons considered too life like.

Fra Angelico, Perugia, Umbria

Fra Angelico Altarpiece, Central Panel, Perugia Umbria

You soon come to the San Domenico altarpiece by Fra Angelico, or Beato Angelico as he is sometimes called. Originally painted for the church of San Domenico, this altarpiece stands out from the other artworks because of the quality and grace with which the figures are painted. Fra Angelico was a master of the newly discovered perspective but he also loved the style of earlier paintings.

Detail from Fra Angelico's Perugia altarpiece

Piero della Francesca, Perugia, Umbria

Shortly afterwards you come to the museum’s greatest work of art, an altarpiece by Piero della Francesca. The Annunciation scene at the top is astounding, behind Gabriel and Mary is an arcade drawn in perfect perspective that draws your eye down the rows of columns. A visit to the National Gallery of Umbria and this altarpiece can be included in the Piero della Francesca Trail.

Annunciation by Piero della Francesca, Perugia

Note the accuracy with which Piero della Francesca has painted the shadows of each column, this painting is comparable to the Flagellation of Christ in Urbino, both use light and atmosphere to portray space in a way that no one else had mastered.

Piero della Francesca's Perugia Altarpiece

Continuing through the gallery you come to more Peruginos and paintings from his work shop (bottega). Look for one in room XV which shows a much younger Perugino looking directly out while members of the Baglioni family pose as the Magi.

Nativity by Perugino, Perugia, National Gallery of Umbria

Room XXI is of interest for the frescoes of medieval Perugia, note the large number of fortified towers, only one remains, the painting of the Palazzo dei Priori and the steps to a building which no longer exists by the Duomo. Usually there is a superb small Perugino here, Christ in Pity, but it had been loaned to another museum when we were there. You then pass more Perugino paintings of varying quality, his enormous output and reliance on assistants meant that his standards varied greatly. The last few rooms of the museum have little of note except that just before the exit you can see paintings of how the Rocca Paolina once looked. This papal fortress was torn down when Italy was unified in 1860.

Tuscany Villas Umbria Villas

Perugia is easily visited when staying at one of Gorgacce Rentals’ Self-catering Villas, Farmhouses or Apartments on the Tuscany Umbria border. Gorgacce Rentals  Tuscany Villas Umbria Villas

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