The Marriage of the Virgin by Pietro Perugino

PD Image: The Marriage of the Virgin by Pietro Perugino (1500-1504), oil on wood painting, dimensions 234 cm x 185 cm.

The Marriage of the Virgin, the painting by the Italian Renaissance master Pietro Perugino (1446-1524), housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Caen, France, was initially commissioned to Pinturicchio for the cathedral of Perugia. In 1797, the painting was captured and taken to Caen by Napoleon.

The wide perspective of the composition, with a polygonal temple and the aligned composition of the figures on the sides, is related to the Perugino's painting ‘Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter’ at the Sistine Chapel. Perugino's most famous pupil Raphael painted his own version of The Marriage of the Virgin in 1504, and most critics say Raphael’s work is heavily influenced by this painting and Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter.