Key to Umbria: Perugia
 

Felice Pellegrini and his younger brother, Vincenzo were born in Perugia.  They both seem to have studied under Federico Barocci.

Felice Pellegrini

Felice Pellegrini was one of the closest followers of Federico Barocci.  His earliest known work is a signed panel of the Pietà (1582), which is now in San Bartolomeo, Torgiano.  He spent the rest of his career in the Marches of Ancona.  Only one work that is securely attributed to him survives in Perugia.

Deposition of Christ (1593)

Felice Pellegrini signed and dated the altarpiece of the Oratorio del SS Crocifisso in Santa Maria Nuova.  It is a copy of the altarpiece (1592) by Federico Barocci in the Chiesa della Croce, Senigallia.  It has been suggested that Laura Pontani Coli, who subsequently left money in her will to the the Confraternita del SS Crocifisso, may have secured the services of Felice Pellegrini through the good offices of Federico Barocci:  she had managed to persuade Barocci himself to paint the altarpiece (1591-6) for her new chapel in Santa Maria degli Angeli, Assisi.




Vincenzo Pellegrini

Vincenzo, who was known as “il Pittor Bello”, was murdered before his 40th birthday.  He left a number of works in Perugia.

Immaculate Virgin with saints (ca. 1605)

This altarpiece, which is in the sacristy of of San Filippo Neri, is attributed to Vincenzo Pellegrini.  It depicts the Virgin with SS Michael and Mary Magdalene.







Mystic Marriage of St Catherine (1608)

Sister Dionira della Corgna, on behalf of the nuns of Sant’ Antonio da Padova, commissioned this altarpiece from Vincenzo Pellegrini for the altar of their public church.  They took it with them when they moved to Santa Lucia in 1817.  It was documented there in 1822 but subsequently disappeared.  It turned up in the German Embassy in Rome at the end of the Second World War, and was subsequently sold on the art market.  It is now in the Bob Jones University Museum, Greenville, South Carolina. 





Birth of the Virgin (ca. 1610)

This panel on the right wall of the Duomo is attributed to Vincenzo Pellegrini.  It was brought here in 1855 from the church of Santa Maria Assunta, Villa Pitignano (outside Perugia).  The donor, Annibale Floramonti is depicted at the lower left.







Virgin Interceding for Souls in Purgatory (1612)

      

Vincenzo Alessi, who was the Archpriest of the Duomo and who paid for the construction of the high altar of the Chiesa della Morte, also commissioned its altarpiece from Vincenzo Pellegrini.  Monsignor Fulvio Paolucci, the first guardian of the confraternity, blessed it before it was brought here in procession to be installed.  It was finished just six months before Vincenzo Pellegrini was murdered, and is his last known work.  (He was subsequently buried in the church).

In the upper part of the panel, the Virgin appears before the figures of the Trinity, while St John the Baptist, to the right, looks down on souls in purgatory.  These souls are surrounded by a large number of saints, a reference to the original dedication of the church to Ogni Santi (all saints).  They include SS Dominic and Francis: as can be seen in the detail illustrated to the left, the latter holds his cord, representing poverty, towards the dead souls as a route to redemption.  The man at the extreme left who looks don over the shoulder of St Francis at the souls in purgatory, is perhaps a self-portrait of Vincenzo Pellegrini: it might have been prescient, or it might have been added after his death.

Agony of Christ at Gethsemane (17th century)

This small panel in the Collection of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Perugia, which is of unknown provenance, is attributed to Vincenzo Pellegrini.






Return to Art in:  Perugia. 

 


Felice Pellegrini (died after 1630) and

Vincenzo Pellegrini (died 1612)


Umbria:  Home   Cities    History    Art    Hagiography    Contact 

   

Perugia:  Home    History   Art    Saints    Walks    Monuments    Museums 


Felice and Vincenzo Pellegrini in:  Perugia