Pietro Perugino's Influence on Raphael

Pietro Perugino was born Pietro Vannucci in Città della Pieve in 1450 near the city of Perugia, where his nickname is derived from. After learning about the artistic profession in his home town, he went to Florence sometime in the early 1470s in order to study under Andrea del Verrochio, a Florentine painter who also taught Leonardo da Vinci. It is documented that he was in Florence in 1472, but in the same year he must have finished his apprenticeship because he enrolled as a painter in the confraternity of St. Luke. It is not known exactly when Raphael began his studies under Perugino. He may have started as early as 8 or as late as 17, but he quickly learned under his master. Raphael adapted Perugino’s compositional model, which combined the Florentine figural style with the Umbrian use of structure and space, and this is especially apparent in Raphael’s early work. After Raphael graduated from his apprenticeship, he and his former teacher rarely met, except during 1508 when the two worked on different aspects the Stanza dell’Incendio in the Vatican. Whether Perugino was able to stay and help after Raphael took over most of the Pope’s art commissions is unknown, but it is possible that while Raphael painted the frescoes, Perugino may have painted the ceilings. He died in 1524 from the plague and, like most other plague victims, was hastily buried in an unconsecrated field, the exact location of which is not known today.