trasimeno lake - arts & crafts

The Lake Trasimeno

In the centre of Italy…, there is a jewel…: The Lake Trasimeno

Eight towns surround the Lake itself…,…some on panoramic hilltops…

Paciano

Panicale

Citta’ della Pieve

Piegaro

…and others right on the shore…

Magione

Passignano sul Trasimeno

Tuoro sul Trasimeno

Castiglione del Lago

In the Trasimeno area worked great artists: the most famous of whom is Pietro Vannucci, know as “Il Perugino” (1450-1523).

Pietro Vannucci

Frequently the painter represented the lake on his panitings and frescos…

Adoration of the Magi (1504) - Citta’ della Pieve

Giovan Battista Caporali (1496-1560) is an other important artist – architect and painter – in the Lake Trasimeno area. Many of his works can be seen in:  

The Coronation of Mary

Passignano sul Trasimeno

Panicale

Annunciation

Paciano

Santissimo Salvatore

Giovan Battista Caporali was also the architect of the cathedral in Panicale. 

The name of Niccolo’ Circignani (1516-1598), known as “il Pomarancio”, is also closely associated with the Trasimeno area.    Almost all of the churches in Citta’ della Pieve are graced by one or more of his works and the Palazzo Ducale della Corgna in Castiglione del Lago was decorated mostly by him with mythological themes.

Palazzo della Corgna Castiglione del Lago

Frescos

Another illustrious painter is Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini, known as Masolino da Panicale (Panicale 1383 – Florence 1440). He was considered the maestro of Masaccio, and worked between the gothic tradition and the Renaissance culture using the new rules of perspective. Masolino’s painting are in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, and he is famous also for the decorations of the Brancacci Chapel in the Carmine church in Pisa. 

Frescos of Brancacci

ChapelPaintings

While the previous artists were exponents of classic harmonious art, Gerardo Dottori (1884-1977) was one of the greats of the Futurist school of art, the man who invented “aeropainting”. He was fond of painting mystical landscapes, many of which featured Lake Trasimeno and the Umbrian countryside.  Many works of Dottori are around the Trasimeno area. There are frescoes and canvas dedicated to Friar Giovanni da Pian di Carpine in the meeting hall of Magione’s Municipal building. There are frescoes in the churches in Magione and in Tuoro at the Church of Santa  Maria Maddalena.Frescos…

…Paintings…

….and Aereopaintings…

In the Trasimeno area there are also many great craftsmen. Those from Piegaro are skilled in working with glass, an activity begun there in the 13th century by Venetian masters. A request for mosaics of the Duomo in Orvieto in the early 1300s, launched the activity on an industrial scale, with the highest of quality and coloured glass. Products from Piegaro are made for windows of cathedrals of Perugia, Milan and Bologna.  

Duomo di OrvietoArtifacts