Perugino (pay-roo-jee´-no) was born in 1446 in a little town not far from Perugia. His parents were respectable people, and when he was nine years old they sent him to Perugia to be educated under one of the artists of that city. His family name was Vannucci; but like many other Italian artists he was called after the city from which he came. He grew up in Perugia; but by the time he had reached early manhood we find him at Florence, studying the frescos. According to Vasari, he became a pupil of Verocchio, and in Verocchio's studio worked side by side with Leonardo da Vinci.

It was about this time that the change from tempera to oil painting took place in Italy. Perugino and Leonardo were among the first of the artists who thoroughly mastered the new medium.

Perugino's careful work did much to increase his fame. Before he had reached the age of forty he was invited by the Pope to come to Rome. He painted several subjects for the Sistine Chapel, and his work was given a prominent place in that place. But when a later pope wished to make room for Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" Perugino's frescos were ruthlessly destroyed and the space they had occupied was filled with Michelangelo's huge composition.

Judging from his quiet, pensive Madonnas and his melancholy Saints, it might be thought that Perugino was of a saintly character too; but the records of Florence show that after his return from Rome he and a companion got into difficulties with the authorities. They were captured when lying in wait for someone against whom they had a grudge. Perugino escaped with a fine of ten florins after pleading that he had intended that the fellow should have no more than a good drubbing; but his companion, who harbored graver designs, was exiled.

Perugino's work arose steadily in public esteem. Commissions came rapidly, and he was able to choose among them. A number of the younger men came to him to be taught his method. Among them was the young Raphael, who worked with him for several years. Raphael's early work much resembles Perugino's.

Perugino married a beautiful girl many years his junior. He never tired of dressing her in rich costumes. But as he grew older he also grew miserly. When he died he left a comfortable estate for her and her three sons. He was carried off by the plague when working in one of the towns not far from Florence, at the age of seventy-eight years.