Saint Placidus
by PERUGINO, Pietro, Tempera on wood
The three panels in the Vatican Museums representing Sts Benedict, Flavia, and Placidus formed part of the predella of a polyptych for the high altar of the Church of San Pietro in Perugia for which Perugino was given a commission in 1495 and which he began the following year. The work was dismantled when the church was restored (1591). The central panel illustrated the Ascension with the twelve Apostles, the Virgin and angels.