PINTURICCHIO, BERNARDINO BETTI (DI BETTO), known as IL PINTURICCHIO. — Painter, born in Perugia in 1454, died in Siena in 1513.
Trained in the Umbrian milieu, perhaps under the guidance of Caporali, he was later particularly influenced by Perugino, with whom he collaborated in the execution of the Stories of St. Bernardino (recently denied to Perugino), and then in Rome in the paintings of the Sistine Chapel: Circumcision of the Sons of Moses and Baptism of Jesus. But already in these early works the collaborator’s personality, more than that of a pupil, stands out from that of his master, and an even greater distance is evident in the decoration of the Bufalini Chapel in S. Maria in Aracoeli (after 1490). Here his pleasant narrative vein prevails, accompanied by that exquisite and refined decorative sense which, in the profusion of gold, colors, minute details, and the richness of the landscape, always maintains balance and elegance. He is more restrained in the frescoes of the side chapels in S. Maria del Popolo, executed in collaboration with other Umbrian artists, where a sweet Nativity is framed by his usual landscape rich in vegetation and rocks. After a brief