Chap. VIII. BERNARDINO PINTURICCHIO. 261 and an altarpiece of the Madonna ordered by Innocent the Eighth for a chapel in S. Pietro. 1 In the midst of these occupations Pinturicchio was per haps surprised; in the spring of 1491, by the reappear ance of Perugino in Rome, in the employ of Giuliano della Rovcre. The protracted And fruitless negotiations between Vannucci and the Orvietans, which now took place, ended as we have seen by the call of Pinturicchio to Orvieto, where he agreed to paint two prophets and two doctors of the church, near the choir of the cathedral. Having finished these, as, in the absence of the figures themselves, we infer from the record of a payment of 50 ducats, 2 he was put to further works in one of the tribunes, which, it would seem, consumed a great quantity of blue and gold. The superintendents discovered, indeed, to their dismay that they had exhausted the means of purchasing more. In the absence of these indispensable materials, Pinturicchio protested that he could not go on any longer and in a legally drawn up paper (Nov. 17. 1492) declared himself free from any responsibility that might attach to him in consequence of his not fulfilling the contract within the specified time. One of those growling spirits, which are so frequently to be found in councils like that of Orvieto, was for turning Pinturicchio out at once, as a squanderer of the church-moneys and an incapable artist. But more generous views prevailed; and Pintu ricchio remained. Three weeks, however,' expired before an order was placed on the minutes (Dec. 14. 1492) “for raising funds to buy blue and gold for the ceilings”; and it is probable that, rather than bo idle any longer, Pin turicchio took horse and returned to vhis old residence at Rome. 3 During his absence, Alexander the Sixth had been elected to succeed Innocent the Eighth, and had ordered these facts in Della Valle; Storia del Duomo di Orvieto, in Vasari’s annot. V. pp. 270. 1. and Vermi- glioli ub. sup. app. XL. and fol«. ' Vas. V. 268. 2 Vas. com. V. 271. 3 See the proof for the whole of
