uricchio, although he was a much older
man, was Benedetto Buonfiglio, a painter of Perugia, who executed
many works in company with other masters in the Papal Palace at
Rome. In the Chapel of the Signoria in Perugia, his native city, he
painted scenes from the life of S. Ercolano, Bishop and Protector of
that city, and in the same place certain miracles wrought by S.
Louis. In S. Domenico he painted the story of the Magi on a panel in
distemper, and many saints on another. In the Church of S.
Bernardino he painted a Christ in the sky, with S. Bernardino
himself, and a multitude below. In short, this master was in no
little repute in his native city before Pietro Perugino had come to
be known.

Another friend of Pinturicchio, associated with him in not a few of
his works, was Gerino Pistoiese, who was held to be a diligent
colourist and a faithful imitator of the manner of Pietro Perugino,
with whom he worked nearly up to his death. He did little work in
his native city of Pistoia; but for the Company of the Buon Gesu in
Borgo San Sepolcro he painted a Circumcision in oil on a panel,
which is passing good. In the Pieve of the same place he painted a
chapel in fresco; and on the bank of the Tiber, on the road that
leads to Anghiari, he painted another chapel, also in fresco, for
the Commune. And he painted still another chapel in the same place,
in S. Lorenzo, an abbey of the Monks of Camaldoli. By reason of all
these works he made so long a stay in the Borgo that he almost
adopted it as his home. He was a sorry fellow in matters of art,
labouring with the greatest difficulty, and toiling with such pains
at the execution of a work, that it was a torture to him.

[Illustration: BENEDETTO BUONFIGLIO: MADONNA, CHILD AND THREE ANGELS

(_Perugia: Pinacoteca. Panel_)]

At this same time there was a painter in the city of Foligno,
Niccolo Alunno, who was held to be excellent, for it was little the
custom before Pietro Perugino's day to paint in oil, and many were
held to be able men who did not afterwards justify this opinion.
Niccolo therefore gave no little satisfaction with his works, since,
although he only painted in distemper, he portrayed the heads of his
figures from life, so that they appeared alive, and his manner won
considerable praise. In S. Agostino at Foligno there is a panel by
his hand with a Nativity of Christ, and a predella with little
figures. At Assisi he painted a banner that is borne in processions,