SHIPWRECK OF ST. PAUL

The interior aspect of the basilica changed radically in 1591 with the beginning of the renovation under Valentino Martelli, which had an effect on the area of the choir in particular. The choir had originally been in the center of the church, surrounded by a walled structure, as was common in Benedictine churches of the time. Between 1547 and 1548, Orazio Alfani had been paid for some of the frescoes of The Lives of Sts. Peter and Paul on the choir wall. Other payments from 1556 indicate that Leonardo Cungi of Sansepolcro also participated in the renovation. These two painters, both important in the early Mannerist trend in Perugia, were sensitive interpreters of the examples offered by Michelangelo and Raphael. The frescoes were detached when the choir was moved to the apse, and placed on the facing wall, where they can still be admired today.