On the occasion of the fifth centenary of the death of Pietro Vannucci, the Umbrian artist universally known as “the Perugino”, the Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello offers visitors an exhibition dedicated to the figure of this great master of the Renaissance, seen through the eyes of travelers that over time visited this Region to discover Umbria, Perugia and other cities related to Vannucci, showing how this has been subject over the centuries to alternate fortunes, initially little considered by the educated travellers of the Grand Tour, between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to then be rediscovered and revalued along a chronological arc that, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, leads us to the twentieth century and to an idea of travel and tourism much more similar to what we are used to today.
This is the basis that led to the conception of the exhibition RACCONTARE IL PERUGINO Impressioni e resoconti di viaggiatori stranieri in Umbria alla scoperta di Pietro Vannucci organized in the rooms of the Ancient Library of Palazzo Sorbello-Casa Museo, whose premise is given by the presence within the Library of the Foundation of a large nucleus of travel literature, implemented over the past fifty years by Marilena de Vecchi Ranieri of Sorbello (1921-2013).
Made possible by the contribution of the Committee promoter of the Celebrations for the fifth Centenary of the death of the painter Pietro Vannucci known as “Perugino”,the exhibition leads the visitor to reflect on the characteristics of the journey, presenting the main stops in Umbria, focusing on the texts of travelers and their impressions, from which you can trace the elements of a growing interest in the master of Città della Pieve.
The route, starting from the era of the eighteenth-century Grand Tour, winds through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is enriched by a selection of important texts of travelers – scientists, historians, writers and art experts – ending with the memory of the exhibition of April 1945, 5th centenary of the birth of Perugino, inaugurated by the will of the then superintendent Achille Bertini Calosso at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, in collaboration with the Monuments Men of the allied army.
Alongside the historical and bibliographical path, a further focus will allow you to know what has been written of the historical and artistic treasures preserved at Palazzo Sorbello, both in other important private galleries in the city, offering visitors the opportunity to admire important works from the collections of the Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello, formerly owned by the Marquis Bourbon of Sorbello, known to an audience of travelers and art connoisseurs between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
