PER 
PER 
afferted, wiffied to fpare it; but, one of its principal ci¬ 
tizens fettingfire to his own houfe, which he intended as 
a funeral pile for himfelf and his family, the flames com¬ 
municated to the neighbouring buildings, and, fpreading 
rapidly, reduced the city to allies. Perugia, however, 
rofe immediately from its ruins ; and, on its reftoration, 
by a ftrange inconfiftency, chofe for its patron Vulcan, a 
divinity to whom it feems to have had very few obliga¬ 
tions, as the god had fpared his own temple only in the 
general conflagration. In the Gothic war it difplayed 
much fpirit, and flood a fiege of feven years againft thefe 
barbarians. It afterwards, with the whole Roman ftate, 
fubmitted to the pope ; and, with fome intervals of tur¬ 
bulent independence, has remained ever fince attached 
to the Roman fee. 
Perugia is now a large, clean, well-built, and well-in¬ 
habited, city. Seated on the fummit of a mountain, it 
commands from its ramparts, and particularly from its 
citadel, an extenfive view over a vaft range of country, 
fertile, covered with hill and dale, and enlivened with 
villages and towns. There are many churches, convents, 
and palaces, in this city, molt of which u'ere adorned 
with the paintings of Pietro Perugino, the mafter of 
Raphael: of thefe the French carried oft’ a confiderable 
number, and defaced others, particularly fuch as were 
painted on walls, and could not be removed. The ca¬ 
thedral is in itfelf a very indifferent edifice, and its de¬ 
formity is increafed by the bad tafte that feems to have 
prevailed in its repair and decorations. Several other 
churches merit attention, particularly that of St. Pietro, 
belonging to a Benedlfline abbey : it is fupported by 
eighteen pillars of fine marble, and adorned with an altar 
of the fame materials, very rich and well difpofed. Pe¬ 
rugia has an univeriity fupplied with able profeffors; and 
feveral academies, all of which can boaft of illuftrious 
names ; and it is upon the whole an interefting city, ca¬ 
pable of entertaining the curious and inquifitive traveller 
for feveral days. It is fixty miles fouth-eaft of Florence, 
and feventy-two north of Rome. Lat. 43. 6. N. Ion. 
12. 17. E. 
PERUGIA'NO, a province which takes its name from 
the above city 5 bounded on the north by the duchy of 
Urbino, on the eaft by Umbria,on the fouth by the Orvietan, 
and on the weft by Tufcany: the greateft extent from 
north to fouth twenty-eight miles,and about as much from 
eaft to weft : the Tiber erodes it from north to fouth, and 
is the only river of confequence. In it is a large lake 
which abounds in fifli, formerly callec bLacws Thraf menus, 
near which Flaminius was defeated by Hannibal. The 
country of Perugia is exceedingly fertile, and abounds in 
corn and wine. Perugia is the capital. 
PERUGI'NO (Pietro), an eminent Italian painter, 
whofe family name was Vannucci, was born at Perugia in 
1446. His father, who was in low circumftances, placed 
him with an ordinary painter, under whom he worked 
with great diligence, labouring to perfeft himfelf in his 
art in the midll of fevere hardfhips. At length he became 
a difciple of Andrea Verochio at Florence, with whom 
he toon made an extraordinary proficiency. The firft 
piece by which he acquired fame, was a St. Jerome before a 
crucifix, in which the mortified and emaciated figure of 
the faint was reprefented with admirable force and nature. 
A dead Chrift, with a number of furrounding figures, 
painted as an altar-piece for a monaftery at Florence, alfo 
gained him great applaufe. He went to Rome, where he 
was employed by Sixtus IV. to execute feveral pieces in 
his chapel. Returning to Florence, he found Michael- 
Angelo there in the height of his celebrity. His quarrel 
with that great man, and his avaricious character, ex- 
pofed him to fo much fatire from the Florentine poets, 
that he was obliged to quit that city, and retire to Pe¬ 
rugia. His hoardings in a long life rendered him opu¬ 
lent ; and it was his practice, when he went abroad, to 
carry with him a cafket of gold by way of fecurity. Of 
this treafure he was once robbed ; and, although he re- 
Vol.XIX. No. 1341. 
759 
covered the greateft part of it, the accident was thought 
to be the caufe of his death, which took place in 1524, at 
the age of 78. 
Though Perugino obtained diftinfilion as a painter, 
and very honourable employment, having confiderably 
improved upon the ftyle of his mailers; yet he was dry 
and hard in defign, and too laborioully minute in finilh- 
ing. His greateft glory arifes from having been the firft 
inltrudlor of Raphael ; but his pupil, as foon as he beheld 
the grander ftyle of Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, 
and Fra. Bartolomeo, burft the bonds of the meaner ftyle 
in which he had been educated, and left his mafter at a 
very humble diftance. The mod capital w'ork of Pietro 
Perugino in oil-colour, is in the church of St. Peter at 
Perugia. It is an altar-piece, and the fubjefl is the af- 
cenlion of our Saviour, with the difciples obferving and 
adoring. 
PERVICA'CIOUS, adj. [ pervicax , Lat.] Spitefully 
obftinate ; peevilhly contumacious.—May private devo¬ 
tions be efficacious upon the mind of one of the moll 
pervicacious young creatures. RichardJ'on's ClariJJu. 
Gondibert was in fight audacious, 
But in his ale moll pervicacious. Denham. 
PERVICA'CIOUSLY, ado. With fpiteful obftinacy. 
PERVICA'CIOUSNESS, Pervica'city, or Per'vi- 
cacy, f. Spiteful obftinacy.—It is pervicacioufnefs to 
deny, that he created matter alfo. Bentley. 
PERVIGIL'IA,Jl in antiquity, an appellation given 
to nofturnal feltivals, celebrated in honour of feveral 
deities, as Ceres, Venus, Fortune, &c. 
PERVIN'CA, f. in botany. See Vinca. 
PER'VIOUS, adj. [pervius, Lat.] Admitting paffage; 
capable of being permeated.—The Egyptians ufed to 
fay, that unknown darknefs is the firft principle of the 
world ; by darknefs they mean God, whole fecrets are 
pervious to no eye. Bp. Taylor. 
Leda’s twins 
Confpicuous both, and both in a£l to throw 
Their trembling lances brandifti’d at the foe, 
Nor had they mifs’d; but he to thickets fled, 
Conceal’d from aiming fpears, not pervious to the deed. 
Dryden. 
Pervading; permeating. This fenfe is not proper. 
What is this little, agile, pervious fire, 
This flutt’ring motion which we call the mind ? Prior . 
PER'VIOUSNESS, f. Quality of admitting a paffage.— 
The pervioujhej's of our receiver to a body much more 
fubtle than air, proceeded partly from the loofer texture 
of that glafs the receiver was made of, and partly from 
the enormous heat, which opened the pores of the glafs. 
Boyle. —There will be found another difference befides 
that of pervioufnejs. Holder's Elem. of Speech. 
PERU'IFE, a river of Brafil, which runs into the At¬ 
lantic in lat. 18. 20. S. 
PER'VIS. See Parvis, vol. xviii. 
PERVISS'E, a town of France, in the department of 
the Lys: fix miles weft-north-weft of Dixmude. 
PER'UICE, f. [properly Perruke, which fee, p. 644. 
from perruque, Fr. Wachter derives this word from the 
Gr. wvppos, yellow ; the firft perukes confifting of hair of 
this light colour, which w-as anciently much efteemed.] 
A cap of falfe hair.—Neither was the ufe of perruques un¬ 
known in thofe times, as may appear by this of Martial, 
“ Calvo turpius eft nihil comato.” Hahewillon Providence. 
—'The deformity of their hair is ufually fupplied by bor¬ 
ders and combings; alfo by whole perukes, like artificial 
lkulls, fitted to their heads. Bp. Taylor's Artif. Iiandfont. 
To PER'UKE, v. a. To drefs in adfeititious hair. 
PER'UKE-MAKER, /. A maker of perukes; a wig- 
maker. 
PER'ULA,/. [altered by Schreber from Peru, the 
name given by Mutis ; and alluding to the form of the 
capfule, which refembles a little bag or fatchel.] In bo- 
9 H tany, 
