Perino del Vaga was born on June 28, 1500 near Florence. His father ruined himself by gambling, and became a soldier in the invading army of Charles VIII.
His mother dying when he was but two months old, he was suckled by a she-goa but shortly afterwards he was taken up by his father's second wife.
Perino del Vaga was first apprenticed to a druggist, but soon passed into the hands of a mediocre painter, Andrea da Ceri, and, when eleven years of age, of Ridolfo Ghirlandajo.
He, however, studied with great severity and spirit from Michelangelo and the antique, and was eventually entrusted with some of the subordinate work undertaken by Raphael in the Vatican.
Perino del Vaga rapidly surpassed his fellow-pupils, applying himself especially to the study of Michelangelo's great cartoon.
Another mediocre painter, Vaga from Toscanella, undertook to settle the boy in Rome, but first set him to work in Toscanella.
Perino, when he at last reached Rome, was utterly poor, and with no clear prospect beyond journey-work for trading decorators.
He assisted Giovanni da Udine in the stucco and arabesque decorations of the loggie of the Vatican, and executed some of those small but finely composed scriptural subjects which go by the name of " Raphael's Bible "- Raphael himself furnishing the designs.
Permo's examples are: " Abraham about tosacrifice Isaac, " " Jacob wrestling with the Angel, " " Joseph and his Brethren, " the " Hebrews crossing the Jordan, " the " Fall and Capture of Jericho, " " Joshua commanding the Sun to stand still, " the " Birth of Christ, " " His Baptism " and the " Last Supper. "
Some of these are in bronze-tint, while others are in full colour.
He also painted, after Raphael's drawings, the figures of the planets in the great hall of the Appartamenti Borgia.
Perino exhibited very uncommon faculty in these works and was soon regarded as second only to Giulio Romano among the great painter's assistants.
To Raphael himself he was always exceedingly respectful and attentive, and the master loved him almost as a son.
He ornamented the palace in a style similar to that of Giulio Romano in the Mantuan Palazzo del Te, and frescoed historical and mythological subjects in the apartments, fanciful and graceful arabesque work, sculptural and architectural details-in short, whatever came to hand.
The most important work of all, the " Shipwreck of Aeneas, " is no longer extant.
Finally he returned to Rome, where Paul III allowed him a regular salary till the painter's death.
He retouched many of the works of Raphael, and laboured hard on his own account, undertaking all sorts of jobs, important or trivial.
He is buried in the Pantheon.
