It was founded by the painter Orazio Alfani and the architect and mathematician Domenico Sozi in 1573. In 1901 it was moved to what was once the convent of San Francesco aI Prato although it was originally in the church of Sant’Angelo della Pace at Porta SoIe and later in the convent of Montemorcino Nuovo.

Now the Academy is a School of Fine Arts and its educational offering has been strudured as all the Higher Education Art and Music Institutions, in a first cycle level (Triennio) and a second cycle level (Biennio) whose programs aim to provide st udents with specific diplomas legally recognized in both a national and an intemational context. The first level academic courses are Painting, Scenography, Sculpture and Design. The second level academic courses are Painting, Scenography, Sculpture and Graphic Arts. The programs of st udies safeguard the Italian artistic tradition, but also include highly innovative courses. The Academy Pietro Vannucci has also a huge collection of plaster casts, drawings, prints and paintings, a seledion of which is kept in the new museum opened to the public in June 2012.

Perugia Art Academy is one of the oldest in Italy (second Only to Florence), so it can be placed among the most prestigious cultural institutions of the region.