Montefalco was already an important municipality in Roman times due to its dominant position above the valley connecting Spoleto and Perugia. From the 11th century the town flourished in the culture of the free communes and the Renaissance. The 13th and 14th centuries saw many clashes with the surrounding communes, particularly because it often sided with the Papacy against the Ghibelline lords of Foligno, the Trici family. The Foligno seigniory dominated the town for about 50 years, until it was liberated in 1424 by Francesco Sforza. The regaining of freedom led to the drawing up of the municipal statutes and a veritable rebirth of the arts and the economy. This period saw the evolution to Montefalco’s present historical town-centre layout and the artistic development that reached its height with the masterpieces by Benazzo Gozzoli in the High Renaissance period. It was only in a much later century, after having lost and regained its independence, that the town received the title of "city" from Pope Pius IX in 1848.Montefalco encloses an important heritage of art that makes it an essential point of reference to understand Umbrian painting.
