Chiesa di San Sebastiano

The Church of San Sebastiano in Panicale preserves a signed and dated 1505 fresco by Perugino depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.

Why it matters

The fresco remains in the church for which it was painted and is an important example of Perugino's work in Umbria. Its landscape has been associated with the view over Lake Trasimeno, linking the painting's setting with the surrounding region.

What to notice

The fresco shows Sebastian bound to a column, with the surrounding landscape rendered in atmospheric perspective. A Madonna with musical angels, transferred from Sant'Agostino in the nineteenth century, is also preserved in the church; its attribution has been discussed and remains uncertain. Terracotta plaques and a dated garden wall record later phases in the building's history.

Context and history

The church was built beside an earlier hospital after a plague outbreak and dedicated to Sebastian, a saint invoked against pestilence. The building was remodelled in the seventeenth century. Perugino's fresco is signed and dated 1505. A local story claims the painter left some of his fee unpaid and encoded an insult in the painting, but restoration found no such letters; the tale is part of local tradition rather than evidence about the work.