MANNI
14..?-1544

Besides Raphael, there had been pupils in Perugino's workshops who were to win to considerable repute.

In the little town of Città della Pieve, that gave birth to Perugino, was also born GIANNICOLA MANNI-who, like Raphael, learnt the craft and mystery of his art under Perugino and Pinturicchio, and who became assistant to Perugino ; his earlier work is steeped in Perugino's tradition.

Manni appears to have settled in Perugia and begun to work on his own account about 1493. At first strongly under the influence of his master, Perugino, he thereafter came under the influence of Raphael, Bazzi, and eventually, it is supposed, Andrea del Sarto. In 1515 he began to [182] paint his chief works, the frescoes of the Sala del Cambio, which, being wrought in desultory fashion, reveal the various changes and influences which came over his later style. He was elected a Decemvir of Perugia in 1527, where he died on the 27th of October 1544.

LO SPAGNA

GIOVANNI DI PETRO, better known as Lo SPAGNA or Lo SPAGNOLO-" the Spaniard "-was another pupil of the same masters in Perugia ; indeed, next to Raphael, is Perugino's most distinguished pupil. In his earlier work is to be seen the strong influence of his master, and later that of his fellow-student Raphael. Little is known of Lo Spagna's life, except that he was probably making his mark by 1503 and certainly by 1507. He is now credited with having painted the famous Caen Sposalizio, long held to be by Perugino. He was made a citizen of Spoleto in 1516, and the year after he was elected head of the Society of Painters of that town, and is known to have been alive in 1530. The Madonna Enthroned, painted in the year that he was made a citizen of Spoleto, now in the chapel of San Stefano in the lower church of San Francesco at Assisi, is one of his best-known works ; but it is likely that many paintings to-day attributed to Perugino and to Raphael in his youth, are really the work of Lo Spagna's hand.

GIOVANNI BATTISTA BERTUCCI, born at Faenza, and working in the early years of the fifteen-hundreds, was reared under the influence of the same masters, Perugino and Pinturicchio ; and his works were also wont to be given to Perugino and Pinturicchio, or to Lo Spagna. But he, like Raphael, came under the influence of the Bologna painters, Costa and Francia, of the school of Padua and Venice. Of Perugino's pupils also was FRANCESCO UBERTINI, better known as IL BACCHIACCA (1494-1557).

XXIII
RAPHAEL
1483 - 1520
UMBRIAN SCHOOL
"THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ATTENDED BY ST. JOHN
THE BAPTIST AND ST. NICHOLAS OF BARI"
(Commonly known as the " Ansidei Madonna ")
(NATIONAL GALLERY)
The Virgin is seated holding the Infant Christ on an elevated throne with three steps. To the left stands St. John the Baptist. On the right stands St. Nicholas of Bari, wearing his episcopal robes and mitre ; in the foreground, at his feet, are the three golden balls, representing the three purses of gold, which are his attributes.
Painted in oil, on thick poplar wood ; arched at the top. 7 ft. 1 in. h. x 4 ft. 10 1/2 in. w. (2.159 x 1.485).

We have seen the Umbrian School of Painters displaying a rich sense of colour, and a style and significance in art, akin to that of Venice and of Siena. They are receptive to many influences, and eagerly adopt them. They are inclined to be what the pedants call eclectic- " borrowers," choosers of the best out of everything, makers of fine mixtures. The art of Florence of the fifteen-hundreds is henceforth, also, to become " eclectic," borrowing from the best that has gone before, both in Florence and in Venice and in Umbria-except only one majestic genius, a very giant, Michelangelo, who stands out alone, head and shoulders above the whole magnificent achievement of Tuscany. But of the splendid borrowers, the mightiest and largest was Raphael, lord of the school of Umbria- indeed, for several centuries he was to be hailed as " king of painters."