Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria
Along Corso Vannucci is housed, on the upper floors of the historic Palazzo dei Priori, the National Gallery of Umbria, one of the richest art collections in Italy. The works preserved here belong to a period from the 13th to the 19th century and represent Umbria's most comprehensive museum collection to date. The National Gallery holds more than 3000 works, 500 of which are on display: paintings, sculptures, ceramics, ancient textiles and goldsmiths' work distributed in 40 rooms, a tower and a chapel for an 800-year-long journey through the history of Italian art.
The History
The origin of this important collection is linked to that of the Accademia del Disegno di Perugia, founded in 1573: here, for the institution's teaching purposes and at least until the second half of the 19th century, a large part of the works still conserved today were collected, to which were added those that were demonised and donated by private individuals. The numerical consistency of the collection, as well as its value, led in 1863 to the establishment of a Civic Art Gallery named after Pietro Vannucci (known as Pietro Perugino) located first in the large church of Montemorcino Nuovo, then inaugurated on the current upper floors of Palazzo dei Priori in 1907. It was only in 1918 that it was ceded to the State under the title of National Gallery of Umbria.