kwebtransPreview
Open in TheBrain

Signorelli

Full Name: Luca Signorelli

Nickname/Alias: Luca D'Egidio di Ventura de' Signorelli; Luca da Cortona

Achievements: His work in Orvieto cathedral is considered one of the great masterpieces of Italian painting.

Born: c.1450; Cortona, Republic of Florence

Died: October 16, 1523; Cortona

Field & Discipline: Art; Painting

Language: Italian

Father: Egidio di Ventura Signorelli

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Spouse: Unknown

Children: Antonio Signorelli

Education: Apprenticeship

Major Work:

The End of the World and The Last Judgment, frescoes decorating the chapel of San Brizio in Orvieto cathedral.

Life & Times:

Luca Signorelli produced early work as an apprentice to [taught by] Piero della Francesca* in the mid-1460s. 

It is also believed that Signorelli was one of a group of young artists painting in Florence in the workshop of  [worked for] Verrocchio* at this time.  Here, he worked with [influenced by] Botticelli* and [influenced by] Da Vinci*, among others, and it was under their influence that Signorelli learned his signature techniques of representing motion and dramatic tension. 

In Florence, Signorelli was also able to establish contacts that would later help him gain commissions.  There are no surviving paintings solely attributable to Signorelli from this period, though several works attributed to della Francesca evince Signorelli's hand.

In the late 1470s and early 1480s, Signorelli was the principal assistant to [worked for] Perugino*.  In this capacity he contributed to the decorating of the walls of the Sistine chapel.  One such fresco, the Testament and Death of Moses, is the first work universally attributed to Signorelli. 

During the 1480s, Signorelli was a traveling worker, roaming throughout central Italy and completing various commissions.  The majority of paintings that survive from this period are smaller scale works, mostly depicting the Madonna and child.  One of these pieces, a double-sided processional standard, exists as the first example of a work both attributed to and signed by the artist.  The piece, commissioned by the church of Santa Maria del Mercato in Fariano, depicts the Madonna and child on one side, and the flagellation of Christ on the other.  The Flagellation in particular demonstrates his celebrated mastery of rendering human anatomy and is recognized as Signorelli's first mature work.

Around 1490 in Florence Signorelli produced two paintings for [worked for] Lorenzo de'Medici* , before Medici's death in 1492.  The first, The Court of Pan, depicted a secular scene rare for Signorelli.  The work was unfortunately destroyed during the bombing of Berlin in 1945.  The second piece, The Virgin and Child with Male Nudes, Saint John the Baptist and Two Prophets, has come to be known as "The Medici Madonna." 

During the 1490s and early 1500s, Signorelli's reputation grew and he became (with Perugino) one of the most sought-after artists in central Italy.  Correspondingly, his artistic output increased at this time.  Between 1493 and 1498, he produced at least five altarpieces as well as several lesser works commissioned by patrons from the smaller towns outlying his native Cortona.  The art Signorelli produced at this time is marked by an efficiency of style indicating he had established a workshop and employed assistants, among them his son Antonio and, later, his nephew Francesco.

In the spring of 1499, Signorelli was commissioned to decorate the walls and ceiling of the chapel of San Brizio, in the cathedral of Orvieto.  Work on the chapel had begun in 1447 by Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli, who ultimately abandoned the project. 

Signorelli's contributions at Orvieto, most notably the frescoes The End of the World and The Last Judgment, have come to be known as the artist's masterwork.  The scenes depicted are dramatic, often drawing inspiration from passages of Dante's Inferno.  The work, completed in 1503, is said to have influenced both [influenced and borrowed from] Michelangelo* and [influenced] Raphael*.

Between 1506 and 1508, Signorelli was asked to do work at the Vatican for Pope [commissioned by] Julius II*.  He also secured multiple commissions from the Bishop of Senigallia.  In 1508, he was asked by his patron Pandolfo Petrucci to decorate his refurbished Palazzo del Magnifico in Siena.  This work was completed in collaboration with Signorelli's contemporary [collaborated with] Pinturicchio*.

From this time on, Signorelli's painting tended more towards increased abstraction of form and unconventional use of space.  This differentiates Signorelli from the styles in vogue at the time, and has been explained as a possible reason why Signorelli does not enjoy a higher profile among Renaissance painters. 

Accordingly, as his reputation dwindled, Signorelli worked for less distinguished, provincial patrons and his style and influence became further removed from mainstream Italian painting.  Nevertheless, in 1512 Signorelli completed Communion of the Apostles, one of his most loved works.  It depicts the Eucharist, which is otherwise a rare subject in Italian painting.

Later that year, the town of Cortona sent Signorelli to Florence as envoy to Giovanni and Giuliano de'Medici, who had returned to power.  The following year, when Giovanni de' Medici was selected to succeed Pope Julius II as Pope Leo X, Signorelli traveled to Rome to secure further patronage, but was denied.  This marked a period of financial instability for Signorelli, and he was forced to take loans from Michelangelo among others to pay for his return home.  Despite this fall from fashion, Signorelli was able to continue finding work closer to Cortona. 

Signorelli's late works belie an increased systematization of the artistic process, as assistants were given increased responsibility.  Many of his works from the years 1515-17 have been attributed to Signorelli's assistant and nephew Francesco, who most likely painted over sketches laid out by his master.  In addition, Signorelli and his assistants often reused forms and even entire compositions from one work to the next.

Signorelli's final commission came in 1522 and completed only a few months before his death.  Ordered by the vicar of Cortona for the Collegiata of San Martino at Foiano della Chiana, the work consists of an altarpiece commemorating the Coronation of the Virgin and includes four scenes from the legend of St. Martin.

[was celebrated by] Vasari* celebrated the life and works of Signorelli in The Lives of the Artists, first published in 1550.  Vasari praised his then-unmatched skill in representing the human form in realistic detail and maintained that Luca Signorelli "was in his day considered more famous in Italy and his works were more highly valued than almost any other master's, no matter of what period."

 Assessment: Prolific and influential painter of the Italian High Renaissance.

"Only Michelangelo among his contemporaries could boast a more monumental or serenely self-confident vision of sacred drama, though the means elected by these two men to express their vision-the one simple and reductive, almost telegraphic in its forms, the other descriptive and intimidating-could scarcely be more different." (T. Henry and L. Kanter, Luca Signorelli: The Complete Paintings)

Oneliner: Luca Signorelli, Renaissance painter

Bibliography:

Audio/Visual:

Attachments