Pietro Perugino, 'The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis', probably about 1507-15
The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis
On loan: Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2024 - 2027), Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK About the work
Overview
This painting stood above the altar in a chapel built to commemorate a local carpenter, Giovanni di Matteo di Giorgio Schiavone, in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Perugia. Giovanni left instructions in his will that the proceeds of the sale of his workshop should go towards the chapel, which he wanted Perugino to paint with a mural showing the Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis.
It is possible that Perugino delegated the work to one of the assistants although some parts – Christ and Jerome’s heads, and the atmospheric, soft landscape – look more like his work. Perugino might have made it himself, working quickly and reusing existing designs and drawings – common practice for him at the end of his career. As a result he received fewer commissions, while his pupil Raphael overtook his fame.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Francis
- Artist
- Pietro Perugino
- Artist dates
- living 1469; died 1523
- Date made
- probably about 1507-15
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 185.5 × 152.5 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1879
- Inventory number
- NG1075
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2024 - 2027), Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Commissioned in 1507 for S. Maria de’ Servi at Perugia. This church was one of the buildings pulled down to make space for the fortress known as the Rocca Paolina; the fortress was built in 1540/3, and it was in 1542 that the Servites moved to another church, known as S. Maria Nuova. No. 1075 was moved to the new church, and was hung over an altar dedicated to S. Francis, belonging to the Cecconi family; it is not certain if the Cecconi had acquired rights in the picture before the move or not. In any case, the picture remained in the church, the ownership or patronage passing by bequest from the Cecconi to the Crispolti and then to Baron Fabrizio della Penna Senior. He paid money for removing the picture to his house in 1821. Penna Catalogue, 1875 (No. 38). Purchased from Baron Fabrizio della Penna, grandson of the first named, Perugia, 1879.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2013Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2013 - 2015)Victoria and Albert Museum1 March 2013 - 30 November 2015
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2015Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2015 - 2018)Victoria and Albert Museum1 May 2015 - 1 November 2018
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2018Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2018 - 2021)Victoria and Albert Museum2 November 2018 - 1 November 2021
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2021Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2021 - 2024)Victoria and Albert Museum2 November 2021 - 1 November 2024
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2024Long Loan to the Victoria & Albert Museum (2024 - 2027)Victoria and Albert Museum2 November 2024 - 1 November 2027
Bibliography
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1683G.F. Morelli, Brevi notizie delle pitture e sculture che adornano l'Augusta città di Perugia, Perugia 1683
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1784B. Orsini, Guida al forestiere per l'augusta città di Perugia, Perugia 1784
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1804B. Orsini, Vita, elogio e memorie dell'egregio pittore Pietro Perugino e degli scolari di esso, Perugia 1804
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1822S. Siepi, Descrizione topologico-istorica della città di Perugia, Perugia 1822
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1836A. Mezzanotte, Della vita e delle opere di Pietro Vannucci, Perugia 1836
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1837G.B. Vermiglioli, Memorie di Bernardino Pinturicchio, Perugia 1837
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1878F. Della Penna, Il Quadro del Perugino nella Galleria della Penna in Perugia, Perugia 1878
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1906E. Beck, 'Ecclesiastical Dress in Art, VI (Conclusion)', The Burlington Magazine, VIII/34, 1906, pp. 271-81
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1908G.C. Williamson, Pietro Vannucci, Called Perugino, 3rd edn, London 1908
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1912W. Bombe, Geschichte der Peruginer Malerei, Berlin 1912
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1914W. Bombe, Perugino: Des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1914
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1923U. Gnoli, Pietro Perugino, Spoleto 1923
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1923R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
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1931F. Canuti, Il Perugino, Siena 1931
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1955R. Longhi, 'Percorso di Raffaello Giovini', Paragone, LXV, 1955, pp. 8-23
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1959E. Camesasca, Tutta la pittura del Perugino, Milan 1959
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1969E. Camesasca, Perugino, Milan 1969
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1971L. Düssler, Raphael: A Critical Catalogue of His Pictures, Wall-Paintings and Tapestries, trans. S. Cruft, London 1971
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1982P. de Vecchi, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Raphael, Paris 1982
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1983P. Scarpellini and F.F. Mancini (eds), Pittura in Umbria tra il 1480 e il 1540: Premesse e sviluppi nei tempi di Perugino e Raffaello, Milan 1983
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1984P. Scarpellini, Perugino, Milan 1984
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1988M.A. Pavone, Iconologia francescana: Il Quattrocento, Todi 1988
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1989F. Todini, La pittura umbra: Al Duecento al primo Cinquecento, Milan 1989
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1997V. Garibaldi, Perugino, Florence 1997
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1997J.A. Becherer et al., Pietro Perugino: Master of the Italian Renaissance (exh. cat. Grand Rapids Art Museum, 16 November 1997 - 1 February 1998), New York 1997
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2002C. Grimm, Meister oder Schüler: Berühmte Werke auf dem Prüfstand, Stuttgart 2002
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2004H. Chapman, T. Henry and C. Plazzotta, Raphael: From Urbino to Rome (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 20 October 2004 - 16 January 2005), London 2004
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2004V. Garibaldi and F.F. Mancini, Perugino: Il divino pittore, (exh. cat. GNU (Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria), 28 February - 18 July 2004), Perugia 2004
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2006C. Plazzotta et al., '"The Madonna di Loreto": An Altarpiece by Perugino for Santa Maria dei Servi, Perugia', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXVII, 2006, pp. 72-95
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2007M. O'Malley, 'Quality, Demand, and the Pressures of Reputation: Rethinking Perugino', Art Bulletin, LXXXIX/4, 2007, pp. 674-93
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
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