Key to Umbria: Perugia

Bartolomeo di Mattiolo, who was based in Perugia from at least 1437, became the leading architect in the city.

Perugia

Work on the Duomo (1437, 1451-7)

The work of rebuilding the Duomo finally began in earnest in 1435 under Bishop Giovanni Andrea Baglioni, who was instrumental in acquiring the finances needs for the project. He commissioned Bartolomeo di Mattiolo da Torigiano to begin work on the east facade and the main portal in 1437. Further payments were made to him for other work on the Duomo carried out under Bishop Jacopo Vagnucci in 1451-7, and the facade was complete in 1452 but never decorated. The original portal was replaced in 1729.

Work in San Domenico (1438-52)

Payments made for the columns of the church of San Domenico and its vaulting included a number to Bartolomeo di Mattioli in 1438-52. He subsequently endowed an altar in the church, where he chose to be buried.

Collegio di Cambio (1452-6)

The work on the new Collegio del Cambio next to Palazzo dei Priori was mostly commissioned from Bartolomeo di Mattiolo and Ludovico d’ Antonibo. Payment was made for the main portal in 1456, and the first document signed in the new headquarters at the start of the following year. Unfortunately, only the ground floor and its three portals survive from the original construction.

Arcade in Piazza Sopramuro (1454, 1468-9)

Pope Nicholas V conceded the right to build along the parapet of the Piazza del Sopramuro (now Piazza Matteotti) to the confraternity that owner the nearby Ospedale di Santa Maria della Misericordia in 1453. They commissioned Gasparino di Antonio and Bartolomeo di Mattioli di Torgiano to build an arcade of shops. Bartolomeo was employed again to execute the vaulting in 1468-9. (The Palazzo dell'Università, later Palazzo dell'Università Vecchia, was built above this arcade in 1490).

Campanile of San Francesco al Prato (1455)

Gonfalone di San Francesco al Prato (1464) Gonfalone di San Bernardino (1465)

(detail) by Benedetto Bonfigli (detail) by Benedetto Bonfigli

Oratorio di San Bernardino Galleria Nazionale (Room 14)

San Francesco al Prato was largely rebuilt in 1740-8, and its campanile by Bartolomeo di Mattiolo no longer survives. However, it can be seen in these two processional banners.

Façade of the Oratorio di San Bernardino (1457-62)

The sculpture of the façade the Oratorio di San Bernardino is the earliest documented work in Perugia by Agostino di Duccio. The composition includes figures of the Annunciation and of the patron saints of Perugia in tabernacles. Bartolomeo di Mattiolo was also associated with the work, and received a specific payment in 1458 for the tabernacle destined to house the figure of the Virgin. In fact, Stefania Magliani (referenced below) attributes the execution of all four tabernacles to him.

Outer Arches of Porta San Pietro (1459-81)

In 1458, the Commune commissioned Bartolomeo di Mattioli to build an outer gate at Porta San Pietro that would provide a more fitting entrance to the city. The shortcomings in this respect of the existing structure must have been evident in the following year, when Pope Pius II made his ceremonial entrance into the city, after having spent the previous night at the Abbazia di San Pietro. Nevertheless, very little seems to have been spent on the project by 1472, when Bartolomeo died. (The project was revived in the following year, reconfigured in 1475 and executed by Agostino di Duccio in the period to 1481).

Foligno

Tribune of the Duomo (1457-9)

A number of payments were made to Bartolomeo di Mattiolo, “dicto de torsciano maestro da pietra” (from Torgiano, master in stone work) in 1457-59 in relation to the rebuilding of the apse of the Duomo. Its floor was lowered to the level of that of the nave, at the expense of the crypt below, in a project that continued until 1462. Most of the work was lost during subsequent restorations, but vestiges of the traceried windows from this construction are still visible from the exterior of the church.

Todi

Vaults of San Fortunato (1458-62)

Work on the vaults of San Fortunato began in 1457. Bartolomeo di Mattiolo da Torigiano, was consulted on a number of occasions in 1458 and received a payment for work on the project in 1459-62.

D. Pisani, “Piuttosto un Arco Trionfale che una Porta di Città: Agostino di Duccio e la Porta San Pietro a Perugia”, (2009) Venice (particularly pp 54-5 and notes)

S. Magliani, “L’ Architettura Quattrocentesca del Palazzo dei Priori: il Collegio del Cambio e i suoi Artefici”, in

P. Scarpellini (Ed.), “Il Collegio del Cambio in Perugia”, (1998 ) Perugia pp 45-66

Return to Art in: Foligno Perugia Todi.

Bartolomeo di Mattiolo (died 1473)

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Bartolomeo di Mattiolo in: Foligno Perugia Todi