BONFIGLI, Benedetto, an Italian painter, whose reputation is not equal to his importance. One of the most remarkable circumstances in the history of art in the peninsula is the sudden advance made by the school of the Umbrian province, which, until near the middle of the 15th century, was far behind those of Florence and the North, but which, in the person of Perugino and some of his followers, came into the very first rank. Criticism had been used to overlook the precursors and senior companions of Perugino, whose improvements prepared the way for his signal excellences. But among these none holds a more distinguished place than Benedetto Bonfigli. The most important of his extant works are a series, in fresco, çf the life of St Louis of Toulouse, in the communal palace of his native city of Perugia. All his life (the dates of which are not quite certain) was spent in honourable employment by the civic and religious bodies of Perugia and neighbouring towns.