Decemviri Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino

Pietro Perugino

Pietro Perugino , born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance...

, executed in 1495-1496, and housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

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The work was commissioned by the Decemviri ("Ten Men") of Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

 for the chapel in the Palazzo dei Priori

Palazzo dei Priori

The Palazzo dei Priori is a historical building in Perugia, Umbria, central Italy.As in other Italian medieval communes, it was the seat of the priori . This magistrature was established in Perugia in 1303: the palazzo had been called the Palazzo Nuovo del Popolo to that point...

, and was executed 1495 to 1496. It was originally surmounted by a Pietà (87 x 90 cm), now at the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

The Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria is the Italian national paintings collection of Umbria, housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia, in central Italy. Its collection comprises the greatest representation of the Umbrian School of painting, ranging from the 13th to the 19th century, strongest in the...

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Description

The work portrays the Virgin on a high throne, with decorations and reliefs. Behind her is a bright landscape with hills. She holds the child in a position identical to that in the Fano Altarpiece

Fano Altarpiece

Fano Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, executed in 1497, and housed in the church of Santa Maria Nuova, Fano, central Italy. It also includes a lunette with a Pietà and several predella panels....

. At her sides are the saints Lawrence, Louis of Toulouse, Herculanus

Herculanus of Perugia

Saint Herculanus of Perugia was a bishop of Perugia and is patron saint of that city. His main feast day is November 7; his second feast is celebrated on March 1...

 and Constantius of Perugia

Constantius of Perugia

Saint Constantius is one of the patron saints of Perugia, Italy.-Legend:...

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The portico theme was typical of Perugino's late 15th century works, such as the Albani Torlonia Polyptych

Albani Torlonia Polyptych

The Albani Torlonia Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino, executed in 1491 and housed in the Torlonia Collection, Rome...

 and the Pietà

Pietà (Perugino)

Pietà is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, executed around 1483-1493, and housed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.-History:...

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