Pietro Perugino : master of the Italian Renaissance /

This beautifully illustrated monograph on Pietro Perugino is a much-needed addition to Renaissance scholarship, which for too long has neglected the great importance of this late-quattrocento painter from outside Perugia. This text is the result of an exhibition held at The Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan, in collaboration with the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria in Perugia, and consists of a well-rounded selection of articles on Perugino by a variety of scholars. These articles document his life, describe his painting and drawing style, discuss the history of Perugia at the time, explain the artistic ambience and training in Renaissance Italy, and explore how Perugino's career was eclipsed by the Florentine prejudices of Giorgio Vasari. The exhibition monograph also contains a list of Perugino's paintings found in American collections, each with a reassessment of attribution, and a catalog of his works shown in this exhibition. Finally, although the text does not include a catalogue raisonne, the annotated chronicle at the end serves to give a broader context to Perugino's career and to illustrate in color images some of his more well known paintings and frescoes not found in the exhibition. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty. A. L. Palmer University of Oklahoma

An Umbrian painter, student of Piero della Francesco (with fellow student Leonardo), master of a great Florentine workshop, supervisor of the Sistine Chapel wall paintings of Botticelli, Ghirlandiao, Signorelli, and others (before Michelangelo), teacher of Raphael, and inspiration of the Pre-Raphaelites, Perugino‘born Pietro di Cristoforo Vannucci (1450-1523)‘has had a one-man show in Grand Rapids, MI, after 500 years. This is also the first exhibit of his work outside Italy in 50 years. Nine Italian and American scholars have contributed brief, informative essays to this book. The core, however, is a catalog of the 35 works of art exhibited, including nine paintings shipped from the National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia, sister city of Grand Rapids, and 26 borrowed from museums in the United States. This stunning, beautifully rendered monograph provides a modern reappraisal of Perugino's entire career; one has to reach all the way back to 1933 (R. Van Marle, The Development of the Italian School of Painting, Vol. 14) for as complete a treatment of Perugino in English. An annotated chronology reflects the latest scholarship. Essential for anyone with an interest in Renaissance art.‘Ellen Bates, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.