Luca Signorelli

Lore & Background

Luca Signorelli was born Luca d'Egidio di Ventura in Cortona, Tuscany, with birth dates between 1441 and 1445 proposed. According to Giorgio Vasari, he was apprenticed to Piero della Francesca. In 1472 he was painting at Arezzo, and in 1474 at Città di Castello. He presented to Lorenzo de' Medici a work likely titled School of Pan. Signorelli worked in central Italy, leading a very requested workshop, and often returned to Cortona. In 1498 he moved to the Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore south of Siena, where he painted eight frescoes forming part of a vast series depicting the life of St. Benedict. From Monte Oliveto, Signorelli went to Orvieto and produced his masterpiece: the frescoes in the chapel of S. Brizio (Cappella Nuova) in the cathedral. The vaulting over the altar already contained images by Fra Angelico. Signorelli added scenes of the Apocalypse and Last Judgment, including the Preaching of Antichrist, Doomsday, and the Resurrection of the Flesh. The contract, dated April 5, 1499, directed him to consult the Masters of the Sacred Page for theological matters. He painted a dead Christ, which Vasari claimed was the image of Signorelli's son Antonio, who died from the plague during the execution of the paintings. After Orvieto, Signorelli worked in Siena, Arcevia, and was summoned to Rome in 1508 by Pope Julius II to paint rooms in the Vatican Palace, but the Pope dismissed all to make way for Raphael. Signorelli returned to Cortona, where he mostly lived for the rest of his life. He was partially paralyzed when he began a fresco of the Baptism of Christ near Cortona, his last attributed work. He died in 1523 and is buried in his native Cortona.

Reader's Guide

Luca Signorelli's significance lies in his powerful draftsmanship and innovative use of foreshortening, which influenced later masters, notably Michelangelo, who is claimed to have borrowed figures from Signorelli's Orvieto frescoes for his own Sistine Chapel wall. Signorelli's frescoes in Orvieto Cathedral are considered his masterpiece, depicting the Apocalypse and Last Judgment with daring nude figures and arduous foreshortenings. He paid great attention to anatomy, reportedly studying in burial grounds, and his drawings in the Louvre demonstrate a method akin to Michelangelo's. Though he had no pupils or assistants of high repute, his influence on painters of his own and succeeding times was vast. Vasari, who claimed Signorelli as a relative, described him as kindly and a family man, living more like a nobleman than a painter. The 2023 exhibition in Cortona marked the 500th anniversary of his death, underscoring his enduring legacy as a key figure of the Italian Renaissance.

Did You Know?

• The contract for Signorelli's Orvieto frescoes, dated April 5, 1499, is the first recorded instance of an artist receiving theological advice from the Masters of the Sacred Page.
• According to Vasari, the figure of the dead Christ in the Orvieto frescoes is the image of Signorelli's son Antonio, who died from the plague during the work.
• Signorelli's painting School of Pan was destroyed in Berlin a few days after the end of World War II.
• In 1508, Pope Julius II summoned Signorelli to Rome to paint rooms in the Vatican Palace, but dismissed all artists to make way for Raphael.
• Signorelli entered the magistracy of Cortona as early as 1488 and held a leading position by 1523, the year of his death.