Perugino (c.1446-1523)
Natività (The Nativity)
c.1522
Fresco transferred to canvas, 254.5 × 131 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Pietro di Cristoforo Vanucci called Perugino (ca. 1450-1523) may have trained with Andrea Verrocchio and subsequently with Piero della Francesca in 1480. He appeared as a member of the Florentine artists’ guild, the Compagnia di S Luca in 1472. Perugino worked as an independent painter, refusing invitations to become a court artist even though he worked for important patrons including Pope Sixtus IV and Pope Innocent VIII, who summoned him to Rome in the 1480s. He settled in Florence in the 1490s and worked between Florence and Perugia. In the 1490s Raphael became his pupil.
This painting is a detached fresco, transferred on canvas, executed by Perugino for the Oratory of the Confraternity of the Annunciation in Fontignano near Perugia. It illustrates the Nativity of Jesus, represented in the centre of the composition, lying on a purple cloak. Behind him are the two traditional animals, an ox and a donkey, while above them fly two angels. On each side are his parents, respectively Mary on the right and Joseph on the left, with a group of shepherds behind them. The mountainous landscape recalls the hilly valley of Umbria where Fontignano is located while the whole composition is depicted in a light pastel-like palette providing the picture with a sense of spirituality. (V&A)