Fondazione Perugia acquires two Perugino masterpieces at Vienna auction

Fondazione Perugia has purchased two panel paintings by Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino (1446–1523), at a Vienna auction: "Cristo coronato di spine" (1497–1500) and "Vergine" (1500), from a private collection. The works will join the foundation's collection at Museo di Palazzo Baldeschi in Perugia, where two other Perugino pieces are held, and will be displayed from mid-December. Both paintings, originally part of a diptych for private devotion, feature the figures against a black bitumen background with leather-covered reverses bearing a Christogram. They were likely once owned by Cosimo Bordoni, personal physician to Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici. Foundation president Alcide Casini hailed the acquisition as a cultural and identity triumph, emphasizing public access and the legacy of the 2023 quincentenary of Perugino's death.