Key to Umbria: Perugia
 

The present church is essentially the structure recorded 1002, although the apse was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the late 13th century.  However, its underlying architecture is obscured by its later decoration. 

Apse


The earliest decoration of the apse of which we are aware centred on the altarpiece (1333) that Abbot Ugolino di Nuccio da Montevibiano commissioned for the high altar from Meo da Siena (see the page Art from San Pietro).  This long low panel was painted on both sides, which suggests that the church itself was effectively subdivided:

  1. The monks would have worshipped in a choir located in the apse.

  2. The lay congregation would have been largely confined to the nave.

In 1436, when the monks transferred to the Cassinese Congregation, this liturgical practice was transformed.  In particular, the monks' choir was located in the crossing, in front of the high altar.  For this reason, a new high altar was built in 1436 and adapted in 1493 to accommodate a new altarpiece that had been commissioned from Perugino (see the page Art from San Pietro).  This huge single-sided polyptych was installed in 1500, when the altar was consecrated. 

Francesco di Guido di Virio da Settignano worked continuously in the abbey in the period 1506-36, over-seeing the remodelling that was in part required by the liturgical changes.  Abbot Giacomo di San Felice da Salò (1591-5) instituted a further programme of re-modelling in the light of post-Tridentine practice.   He appointed Valentino Martelli to supervise work on the abbey, a post he held throughout the period 1591-1630.  The most important requirement was that the monks' choir should be moved from the nave to its current position behind the high altar.  Perugino’s polyptych was dismantled in 1608 and the altar was re-consecrated in the following year. 

The relics of St Peter Abbot, which had been recovered in 1436 and placed under the high altar, had a chequered existence during the changes to the apse in the 16th century:

  1. They were moved to the sacristy while work was carried out in the apse in 1534.

  2. They were recorded as being once more under the high altar in 1573.

  3. They were moved to a new coffin and moved once more to the sacristy to permit the remodelling of the apse in 1592. 

  4. They were translated back to the high altar in 1608.  

Pulpits (1521) 

    

Francesco di Guido di Virio da Settignano was responsible for the two gilded stone pulpits that flank the presbytery.

Choir (1525-35)

The beautifully carved choir stalls, which were originally in the centre of the nave, were begun in 1525, but work was halted for a period because of an outbreak of plague.  It resumed under Stefano Zambelli da Bergamo and was completed in 1535.  Guido di Francesco da Settignano, who took over project management after his father's death, built the enclosing choir walls in 1535.

    

The door in the middle of the choir has lovely inlaid panels (1536) that are signed by Stefano’s brother, Damiano Zambelli da Bergamo.  They include these two, which depict:

  1. the Annunciation (on the left); and

  2. the baby Moses being hidden in the Nile.

High Altar (1592-1608) 


Valentino Martelli designed the present high altar.  The grill in the centre at the back (seen in the illustration above) gives a view of a reliquary containing the relics of St Peter Abbot.  The tabernacle (1627-35), which replaced Perugino’s altarpiece (see below) here, was made in Rome to a design by Valentino Martelli.  The associated silver altar frontal (1627) was taken to France in 1797 and has been replaced by a modern copy.

Works by Benedetto Bandiera (1590-1619)

  
  

Benedetto Bandiera was documented in the church over a period of some three decades.  Surviving works here that are by or attributed to him include:

  1. the frescoes (ca. 1590) of the four Evangelists in the vault of the crossing (which include the figure of St Mark, illustrated to the left above);

  2. the fresco of the Annunciation on the triumphal arch (illustrated at the centre, above); and

  3. the panel of the Trinity with SS Peter and Paul on the baldacchino above the high altar (illustrated to the right above).

Works by Silla Piccinini (ca. 1592)

Silla Piccinini was among the team at work in the apse of San Pietro in 1592.  The frescoes here that are attributed to him include:


  1. most of the figures of the Three Theological and Four Cardinal Virtues in the lunettes (three of which are illustrated here); and


  1. the figure of God the Father in the vault above.

Works by Pietro Rancanelli (1592)

    
    

Pietro Rancanelli was probably the “Maestro Pietro” who was documented in 1592 as an associate of Silla Piccinini (see above) at San Pietro.  The frescoes in the church that are attributed to him include those of allegorical figures in five lunettes on each side of the crossing (which include the three of those on the right that are illustrated here).

Works by Giovanni Battista Lombardelli (1591-2)

   
  

Payments to Giovanni Battista Lombardelli in relation to the frescoes of the apse are recorded between December 1591 and May 1592.  Those that are specifically attributed to him depict:

  1. Christ entrusting the keys of Heaven to St Peter;

  2. Christ before a centurion; and

  3. the conversion of St Paul

Nave and Counter-Facade

The 18 columns in the nave probably originated in ancient Roman buildings, and might have been recovered from the earlier church.

The gilded ceiling (ca. 1554) is the masterpiece of Benedetto da Montepulciano and Benvenuto da Brescia.

SS Peter Abbot and Benedict (15th century)

          
          

                                             St Peter Abbot            Displaced Column          St Benedict

These frescoes in the nave are attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli, and might have been associated with a payment made to him in 1465.  Both frescoes have been heavily repainted.

  1. The fresco of St Peter Abbot is on the 2nd column of the left, which is known as the column of the miracle.  This refers to an accident that happened in ca. 966 during construction, when the column fell and nearly killed a workman.  However, St Peter was able to stop it in mid air by making the sign of the Cross.  The column remains asymmetrically mounted on its base: the fresco and the cross is carved on the capital above also record the miracle. 

  2. The fresco of St Benedict on the opposite column on the right.

Detached frescoes (1556)

           

                                  St Peter healing a lame man          St Peter released from prison

Orazio Alfani was paid for four frescoes in San Pietro in 1556:

  1. Two are attributed to him:

  2. St Peter healing a lame man; and

  3. St Peter released from prison by an angel.

              

                             St Paul surviving a shipwreck                    St Paul landing on Malta

  1. Two are attributed to his associate at this time, Leonardo Cungi:

  2. St Paul surviving a shipwreck; and

  3. St Paul landing on Malta

These frescoes, which have been detached and transferred onto canvas, are now on the counter-facade.

Panels  (1592-4)

    
    

         Saints of the Benedictine Order        View of counter-facade            Resurrection of Christ

                 Counter-facade                       and first panels in the nave              First panel on left                     


Abbot Giacomo di San Felice da Salò also commissioned commissioned the panels that decorate the nave and counter-facade from the Greek artist Antonio Vassillachis (Aliense), who painted them in Tintoretto’s studio in Venice. They comprise:

  1. the huge panel on the counter-façade, above the portal, which depicts the saints of the Benedictine Order; 

  2. ten large panels that are arranged above the colonnades in the central aisle.

In this latter series, each panel depicts a scene from the life of Christ, with another scene from the Old Testament that foreshadows it in the background.  The series continued the narrative of the broadly contemporary frescoes in the apse, an approach encouraged by the climate of the Counter Reformation. 

Frescoes (ca. 1600)


These frescoes of busts of saints and bishops in the frieze along the top of the walls of the nave are attributed to Benedetto Bandiera.

Right Aisle

In the descriptions below, the bay is defined with reference to the columns between the aisle and the nave.  The following rooms off the upper right aisle are described in a separate page (link above);

  1. two chapels:

  2. the Cappella delle Reliquie, at the end of the aisle; and

  3. the Cappella di San Giuseppe; and

  4. the sacristy, which is between them.

Madonna and Child with saints (early 16th century)

This altarpiece in the 1st bay depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Mary Magdalene and Sebastian.  It is attributed, somewhat uncertainly, to Eusebio di San Giorgio.





Assumption of the Virgin (16th century)

This panel in the 3rd bay is by Orazio Alfani.






St Scholastica (1751)

This panel in the 4th bay is by Francesco Appiani.







Miracle of the Column (1677) 

This panel by Giacinto Gimignani in the 5th bay depicts a miracle that happened during construction of San Pietro in ca. 966, when St Peter Abbot was able to stop a column from falling on a workman by making the sign of the Cross. 





St. Maurus raising a man from the dead  (1648)

This altarpiece by Cesare Sermei is in the 6th bay.







Panels by Ventura Salimbeni (1602)

    

Cardinal Bonifazio Bevilacqua, the Papal Legate in Umbria, commissioned two panels from Ventura Salimbeni that are now in the right aisle:

  1. the "Punishment of King David" (in the 7th bay), in which an angel invites David to choose between three punishments because he had taken a census of the nation of Israel, indicating his arrogance (on the left above); and

  2. the "Vision of St Gregory the Great" (in the 9th bay), in which St Michael appeared to him above Mausoleum of Hadrian, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590 in Rome.  The Castel Sant' Angelo, which was subsequently built on the site, can be seen in the painting.

Cardinal Bevilacqua was so pleased with these panels that he invested Salimbeni with the Order of the Golden Spur and authorised him to call himself Cavalieri Bevilacqua. 

St Gregory confirms the Benedictine Rule (early 16th century) 

This altarpiece depicts an unhistorical event: Pope Gregory the Great confirms the Rule of St Benedict, who commends his brothers to the Pope.   The predella contains nine small panels depicting scenes from the martyrdom of St Catherine.  Since the subjects of the two parts of the work are unrelated, it seems unlikely that they belong together.

The attribution of the panel itself to Eusebio di San Giorgio is highly dubious; the attribution to him of the predella is more plausible. 


Upper Right Aisle

Saints (17th century)

       

                                                   St Maurus                             St Placidus                        

   
   

                                 St Justina                          St Apollonia                      St Catherine

A document of 1792 records that: “In the rooms [of the abbot, there are panels depicting] SS Benedict, Scholastica, Maurus, Placidus, Flavia [. . .] in half-length figures.  They are all beautiful copies taken from various originals of Raphael, Pietro Perugino and other illustrious men, by ... the most accurate Sassoferrato”.  

Five of these panels attributed to Giovanni Battista Salvi, il Sassoferrato are now in the upper part of the right aisle:

  1. two above the door to the monastery:

  2. St Maurus; and

  3. St Placidus; and

  4. three above the door to the sacristy:

  5. St Justina (the patron of the Cassinese congregation, incorrectly identified as St Flavia in the list of 1792);

  6. St Apollonia (carrying the pincers with which he teeth were torn out);

  7. St Catherine of Alexandria

The panels of SS Benedict and Scholastica are in the abbey.

Madonna and Child with saints (16th century) 

This panel by Bonifacio de’ Pitati da Verona , which is also above the door to the monastery (between Sassoferrato’s copies of Perugino’s SS Placidus and Maurus, above), depicts the Madonna and Child with St John the Baptist and a female saint




Resurrection of Christ (1553)

This panel between door to the monastery and the door to the sacristy is by Orazio Alfani.






Panels by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (ca. 1660)

    

These two panels by Gian Domenico Cerrini, il Cavalier Perugino, which are opposite the entrance to the sacristy, may have been given to the monks of San Pietro by the artist.  They depict:

  1. the Madonna breast-feeding the baby Jesus (which is based on the central group in the panel in the Galleria Nazionale - see above); and

  2. St John the Baptist as a young hermit in the desert .

Although they were listed among works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, it was subsequently decided that they should remain in the church. 

Left Aisle

In the descriptions below, the bay is defined with reference to the columns between the aisle and the nave.  The following chapels off the left aisle are described in a separate page (link above);

  1. the Cappella del Sacramento (nearest the counter-facade);

  2. the Cappella Ranieri; and

  3. the Cappella Vibi.

Scenes from the Life of St Benedict (1679) 

      

These panels by Giacinto Gimignani in the 1st and 3rd bays depict:

  1. St Benedict welcoming SS Maurus and Placidus to his monastery at Subiaco; and

  2. St Benedict saving St Placidus from drowning.

St Peter Abbot (1751)

This panel in the 4th bay is by Francesco Appiani.






Pietà (1513-23)

This panel, which now forms the altarpiece in the 5th bay,was part of Perugino's Sant' Agostino Polyptych (1502-23), which was painted for the high altar of Sant’ Agostino.   The panel, which depicts the Pietà with the Virgin, St John the Evangelist and Joseph of Arimathea, was one of the seven panels from the polyptych  that Napoleon's commissioner, Jacques-Pierre Tinet selected for confiscation  in 1797.   Antonio Canova recovered it in 1815 and it was given to the monks of San Pietro: this was in recompense for two panels that were (somewhat dubiously) attributed to Raphael, which had been confiscated from the church by the French in 1797 and subsequently lost.  (Most of the other panels from the Sant' Agostino Polyptych are now in the Galleria Nazionale).

Crucifix (1478)

This crucifix in the 6th bay is almost certainly the one that the monks of San Pietro commissioned from Giovanni Tedesco in 1478. 





Annunciation (17th century)

This altarpiece in the 7th bay, which is by to Giovanni Battista Salvi, il Sassoferrato, was based on a predella panel from Raphael’s Pala Oddi (1503).   It was listed among works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, but it was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church.

(The original by Raphael was in San Francesco al Prato until 1797 and is now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome).

Assumption of the Virgin (16th century)

This panel by Orazio Alfani is in the 8th bay.







Adoration of the Magi (1509)

This altarpiece in the 9th bay has been associated with a payment made by Donna Leonarda Olivieri Baglioni in 1509.  Documentation linking the work to Eusebio di San Giorgio was published in 1906. 

The altarpiece was listed among works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812 (at which time it was attributed to Dono Doni), but it was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church.  

Upper Left Aisle

Judith and Holofernes (17th century)

This altarpiece by Giovanni Battista Salvi, il Sassoferrato is in the 10th bay (between the Cappella del Sacramento and the Cappella Ranieri).  It was sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812 but returned to the church in 1815.






Deposition (1638)


This panel by Giovanni Battista Salvi, il Sassoferrato is in the 11th bay ( between the Cappella Ranieri and the Cappella Vibi, in the left aisle) is a faithful copy of the main panel of Raphael’s Pala Baglioni (1507).  (The original was removed from San Francesco al Prato in 1608 and is now in the Galleria Borghese, Rome). 

SS Peter and Paul (17th century)

     

These panels, which are attributed to Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, il Guercino are on the right (to the sides of the side entrance to the presbytery).

Christ in the garden (17th century)

This panel, which is attributed to Giovanni Lanfranco, is on the left, beyond Cappella Vibi.







Pietà with saints (1469)


This panel of the Pietà with SS Jerome and Leonard at the end of the left aisle is undocumented, but used to carry an inscription that identified its date.  It used to be attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli, but has been more recently attributed to Fiorenzo di Lorenzo.  If the present attribution is correct, it is one of Fiorenzo’s earliest surviving works.

Monument to Ugolino da Montevibiani (1357)


Ugolino di Nuccio da Montevibiano, who was abbot in the period 1330-57, presided over a period of great prosperity at San Pietro.  His marble tombstone, which was designed for the floor above his place of burial, is now in embedded the wall at the end of the aisle, under the Pietà (above). 


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