The first stop of this second itinerary takes us to the Umbrian capital. For the artist, this city was always an important part of his identity: it is no coincidence that Pietro Vannucci gave his name to the main street of the city, as well as to its first municipal art collection, the “Pietro Vannucci” Civic Art Gallery, which later formed the core of the National Gallery of Umbria. It is precisely from Perugia’s National Gallery, one of Italy’s most important museums filled with masterpieces, that our journey begins. Housed in the beautiful rooms of the Palazzo Comunale, this museum holds the largest collection of Perugino’s works in the world.

Two entire rooms are dedicated to him: Room 16 on the third floor and Room 23 on the second floor. The works displayed in Room 16 illustrate Perugino’s artistic evolution, from his early days to his first prestigious commissions, leading him to become Italy’s most renowned painter. Here, you can admire the beautiful and enigmatic Tablets of San Bernardino, created in collaboration with a team of painters, the Pietà del Farneto, the magnificent Adoration of the Magi, the small yet precious Ranieri Annunciation, the Imago Pietatis (the only remaining part of one of his masterpieces, the Decemviri Altarpiece, originally created for the chapel in this palace and now scattered across different locations), the Gonfalone of Justice and the Madonna della Consolazione. Room 23 on the second floor is entirely dedicated to Perugino’s mature masterpieces, from the time when he focused his work in Umbria, eventually closing his Florentine workshop in 1511. Here, you can admire large altarpieces that repeat the artist’s signature motifs: sweet and graceful Madonnas, reminiscent of his young wife Chiara Fancelli, dancing angels, elegant and ecstatic saints, fortified cities in the background, vast and airy landscapes with water elements, vivid and shimmering colours, flowering and rocky corners and the eternal spring light that pervades Vannucci’s canvases.

On Corso Vannucci, still in Perugia, you can admire one of Pietro Perugino’s greatest masterpieces: the frescoes of the Nobile Collegio del Cambio, painted between 1496 and 1500. The money changers, the predecessors of modern bankers, were a powerful guild that, by the mid-15th century, obtained the privilege of having their headquarters within Palazzo Comunale. The decoration of the Sala delle Udienze, where the magistrates of the guild held their meetings, was entrusted to Perugino, at the time Italy’s most celebrated painter. He created a remarkable fresco cycle along the walls of the hall, based on a complex iconographic programme developed by the humanist Pietro Maturanzio. The central theme of the frescoes is the correspondence between pagan wisdom and Christian virtues. According to this concept, the cardinal virtues embodied by ancient classical figures find their ultimate realisation in Christ. Among exquisite grotesques and ornamental details, one particular figure stands out: a ruddy-faced, serious-looking man in his fifties—none other than Perugino himself. Beneath the portrait, he proudly inscribed his own name as “egregius pictor” (distinguished painter).

Our Perugian itinerary in Perugino’s footsteps concludes in Borgo Sant’Angelo, where, at the Convent of the Poor Clares of Sant’Agnese, Vannucci painted in 1522, just a year before his death, a fresco of the Madonna delle Grazie between Saint Anthony the Abbot and Saint Anthony of Padua. At the feet of the Virgin, the two small figures of the commissioning nuns, Sister Eufrasia and Sister Eustochia, can be seen. The present-day religious community still follows the cloistered rule, but Pope Leo XIII, once Bishop of Perugia, removed the restriction from the chapel housing these paintings, allowing visitors to admire the fresco.

The second stop on our itinerary is the village of Deruta, renowned for its beautiful artistic ceramics.

The Deruta Art Gallery houses a detached fresco from the Church of San Francesco, depicting God the Father with Two Saints, dating between 1477 and 1478. This work was created after Perugino returned to Umbria following his time in Verrocchio’s workshop in Florence. The fresco portrays the two standing saints, with Saint Romanus pointing towards the recognisable view of Deruta below—likely indicating the intercession of the saints, who were traditionally invoked as protectors of the village. The composition is characterised by great elegance and refinement.

The third stop is Bettona, a spectacular hilltop village offering stunning views of the Umbrian countryside. The Bettona Art Gallery houses three works by Perugino: Saint Anthony of Padua, the Madonna of Mercy with saints and donors and The Banner of Saint Anne, considered partly a work of his workshop. In the first piece, Saint Anthony of Padua is depicted in front of a beautiful marble parapet, holding his iconographic attributes -a book and a flame. An inscription reveals that the painting was an ex-voto commissioned by Bartolomeo da Maraglia, a condottiero in the service of Giampaolo Baglioni, who is shown kneeling at the saint’s feet. The Madonna of Mercy follows the traditional iconography of this subject: the Virgin shelters Saint Stephen, Saint Manno and the kneeling donors under her mantle, though the donors’ identities remain unknown. The Banner of Saint Anne was originally kept in Bettona’s main church, which is dedicated to the saint. The central mandorla features the Virgin and Child, protected by Saint Anne’s mantle above, and by the Blessing Christ. In the lower section, Saint Crispoltus and Saint Anthony of Padua, the patron saints of Bettona, are depicted. The figures in the upper part of the painting were likely executed by Perugino’s workshop.