English version of: T. Henry, oPerugia1502', in ed. V. Garibaldi and F.F. Mancini, Pintoricchio, exh. cat., Perugia (Galleria Nazionale) and Spellor2008n pp.l2l-129. Perugia 1502 This essaywill argue, more forcefully than I think it has been arguedbefore, that Raphael's first introduction to Perugia and to Perugianpatrons came about as a result of his connectionwith Pintoricchio.I will arguethat from late 1501until mid 1503, Raphael's principal model and point of contact was Pintoricchio, and that in addition to the works for which he supplied drawings, Raphaelalso owed his first independent opportunities in Perugia (and, of course,in Sienaas well) to his contact with Pintoricchio. Leaving aside the vexed issue of Raphael'straining and activity in the 1490s,my concentrationis on his arrival in the city in 1502,or late 1501 .' The basic facts are very well known. In September1501 Raphaeldelivered his first altarpiece,the now fragmentary Coronation of St Nicholas of Tolentino, to his major patron in Cittd di Castello, Andrea Baronci. At least three further commissionsfollowed in this Northern Umbrian city2, but it is perfectly possiblethat none of thesewas executedin Cittd di Castello. The evidence suggeststhat Raphael's focus shifted to Perugia,where he is first documentedin Januaryand March 1503 (he was describedas living there in January 1504).3This conclusionis widely acceptedand is supportedby the stylistic dating and apparentpatronage of works contemporaneouswith his paintings for Cittd di Castello,the new intensity of his engagementwith Perugianworks by Perugino and Pintoricchio, the evidencethat he knew some of theseworks before they were delivered, and the fact that he provided drawingsfor works by Pintoricchioc.1502-3 (further discussedbelow). Although Pintoricchio has always been recognisedto be part of the equation,the predominant conclusion of scholarshipto date has been that Raphael's introduction to Perugiawas the result of his proximity to Peruginoin this decade(if not in the 1490sas well). This essayargues that Pintoricchio was much more important in Raphael's early successin Perugia than has usually been recognisedand - by extension- that Perugino was much less important." * This essaybenefited from the assistanceof Donal Cooper, Beverley Lyle, Claudia La Malfa, Rita Silvestrelli, Alberto Sartore and Giorgia Mancini. ' Carol Plazzotta and I argued that Raphael trained in Giovanni Santi's workshop in Urbino in Chapman, Henry & Plazzolla2004-5, pp. 16-18. The traditional argument for an apprenticeshipwith Perugino in the 1490shas been restatedby Mancini 2006 (amongstothers). A reframing of that position has been argued by Ferino Pagden2006. This writer is yet to be persuadedby Ferino's re-attribution of various Perugino drawings to Raphael,and standsby the argumentspresented in Chapman, Henry &Plazzotta2004-5, loc. cit.. 2 The fullest treatment of Raphael's activity in Cittd di Castello is Henry 2006. Since that appeared(and taking up some thought-provoking suggestionsof Mancini, art. cit. in note l) I have argued in a paper presentedat the Raphael conference in New York in June 2006 that a drawing of the Annunciation in Stockholm (inv. 291) may have been made in preparation for an unexecutedfifth commission in Cittd di Castello, namely an altarpiece for the Magalotti chapel in S. Domenico, eventually commissionedfrom FrancescoTifernate in November 1505. 3 For these documentsthat establish Raphael's presencein Cittd di Castello and Perugia see Shearman 2003, pp. 73-82 andCooper 2004. No other documentsestablish Raphael's whereabouts in the years 1501- /1 " Partsof the argumentfor Pintoricchio'simportance have been set out by Oberhuber1977, and Mancini 1987,p.10 et seq.It is alsoa strongthemein Crowe& Cavalcaselle1882-5. Before tuming to the evidencefor Raphael's connectionwith Pintoricchio, it is worth reminding ourselveswhat was happeningin Perugia at the time and what Pintoricchio and Perugino were up to. Insteadof bringing peace,the Baglioni dominance of Perugia brought appalling internecinebloodshed. Following the nozzerosse of July 1500 the faction led by Giampaolo and Morgante Baglioni dominated Perugia and struck important truces with the Vitelli of Citte di Castello,the Duke of Urbino and with Cesare Borgia.5 Borgia loyalty was notoriously short-lived, however, and after Giampaolo avoided the trap that had been set for him at Senigallia in December 1502, Cesare/Duke Valentino tumed on the Baglioni in January 1503, resulting in their enforced exile from the city from Januaryto September1503, and the related re-entry of the degli Oddi during this period. From March 1499until his neardefinitive departurefor Sienain 1503-46, Pintoricchio was largely to be found in Perugia and nearby. He completedhis_frescoes for Troilo Baglioni in the CappellaBella of S. Maria Maggiore,Spello in 1500-1' and was in Siena in June 1502to sign the contract to paint frescoesin the Libreria Piccolomini.s But apart from thesedemands on his time he seemsto have been predominantly in Perugia and to have been putting down stableroots in the city (developing his property in the parish of S. Fortunato in the Porta Sant'Angelo by building against a neighbouring wall, boring a new well, paying the local hearth tax etc).vWhile one cannot point to a welter of Perugiancommissions, there is a dangerof underestimatingthe significance of those that he did receive; and he might reasonablyhave been hoping in 1502that the local dominanceof Peruginowas on the wane (seefuither below). Pintoricchio'scommission to paint an altarpiecefor S. Maria dei Fossi (recently cededto the Regular Canonsof the Augustinians) was a splendid re-entry to the city after his many (very successful)years in Rome; and it also re-animatedhis important long-standingconnection with the Alfani. We do not know when Pintoricchio completedthis picture which was commissionedin February 1495. The assumptionthat it was painted in the courseof the following year may well be incorrect given his other commitments in Rome and Orvieto. However, he subsequentlyreceived the major commissionto paint frescoesfor Troilo Baglioni, the new rector of S. Maria Maggiore, Spello;the relatively minor commissionto paint the gonfaloneof S. Agostino (1499-1500);and, in late 1502,the contractto paint the Assumption altarpiecefor the ObservantFranciscans of S.M. della Pietd atLaFrutta (modern-dayUmbertide: the painting seemsto havebeen largely completeby June 1503 t These alliances between Cittd di Castello and Urbino and Perugia in the first three years of the new century may prove to have been critical in facilitating Raphael's move from the former cities to the latter, especially given that Vitellozzo Vitelli was frequently in Perugia during the first couple of years of the century and he and his family were closely connectedto Raphael's circle of influential patrons in Cittd di Castello, and that Raphael was also well-connected with the Montefeltro. 'The related issuesof Pintoricchio's departurefrom Perugia, and of progressin the Piccolomini library, have not been definitively resolved, but very few ofthe documentsthat appearto place Pintoricchio in Perugia in 1503 can be entirely trusted (they could have been made in his absencein-most cases)and the Sienesedocuments suggest that he had made significant progresson his work in the city before the end of the year. In particular it seemsthat the Coronation of Pius III (inthe nave of the Cathedral, and presumably not addedto the commissionuntil after Pius' electionin September1503) was completeby February1504 when the scaffold in the nave was removed(see Oberhuber 1986, p. 170,note l5). 7 For thesefrescoes and their dating, seeScarpellini & Silvestrelli2004, pp.214-20. 8 Milanesi1856, III, pp. 9-16. ' For thesereferences see Scarpellini & Silvestr elli 2004, pp. 289 -90. and the contract suggeststhat it was to be worked on in Umbertide over a four month period in early 1503).10In sum,he had painteda revolutionarychurch altarpiece; frescoeda major Baglioni chapel when the family's star was at its highest; taken on commissions from the Augustinians and Franciscans;and renewedcontacts with the Alfani family. His civic profile was confirmed when he servedas a Prior in March and April 1501 and one can document his prominent support from Rome in the period (CesareBorgia's letters in his favour are discussedbelow). It may also prove relevant that Pintoricchio was dangerouslyill in September1502. In the will that he made - corpore languens- at this time, Pintoricchio put his affairs in order and it is not beyond 'succession the bounds of probability that his planning' extendedto thinking who might assumehis place in the artistic scenein Perugia when he left for Sienaor a better place.l1 Perugino is usually and rightly seento have presided over the dominant local workshop in Perugia and his perceived strangleholdon local patronagehas been describedboth as the reasonthat Pintoricchiodid not receivemore local commissions.l2 and as the specific spur to local artists banding together in competition.13These conclusionsmay be correct but it is also worth noting that Perugino largely turned his back on Perugiain the years 1503-7.14Inthe period betweenSeptember 1502 and June 1507he only receivedone new commissionin the city that we know of (ttrepala Martinelli for S. Francescoal Prato,which was not delivereduntil 1518)tt and he is largely to be found in Florence betweenthese dates. He left Perugia before the end of September1502 andthe only dateson which Perugino