*This site is is best viewed on a PC or laptop.

 

Luca Signorelli

c. 1441-1523 Italy/Early Renaissance

 

Brief Biography-Luca Signorelli was born in Cortona c. 1441. In his youth, he was a pupil of Piero della Francescain Arezzo while living with his uncle, Lazzaro Vasari. The latter was thus the great uncle of his biographer Giorgio Vasari. Signorelli visited the house of Vasari when Giorgio was just eight years old and instructed Giorgio to ‘Learn little cousin, learn.’
Piero strongly influenced Signorelli’s early paintings, and it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between the works of either artist; Antonio del Pollaiuolo may have also instructed him. He was famous for handling foreshortening and painting nudes, for which he became notable. Michael Angelo Buonarroti became influenced by his works and publicly acclaimed them.
In 1483, he received a commission to complete frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in Rome; they were abandoned by the artists Rosselli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Botticelli, supposedly because of an underpayment due to slow work. Nevertheless, Signorelli finished them in a short period.
He viewed life and death through the medium of art so much that when his son got killed in Cortona, he had his dead naked body laid out in his studio, and he painted his likeness without exhibiting emotion.
He spent his last years in Cortona, where he died in 1523. He had received such high respect from his community in Cortona that he held various public offices until his death. Apart from Rome, his paintings are in the chapels of Siena, Loreto, Perugia, Cortona, Florence, and Arezzo. His most noted works are in the Chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio, in the Cathedral of Orvieto.

 

Click an Image to Enlarge

annunciation of
volterra

annunciation of volterra

apostles
in dispute 1

apostles in dispute one

apostles
in dispute 2

apostles in dispute two

apostles
in dispute 3

apostles in dispute three

apostles
in dispute 4

apostles in dispute four

benedict discovers
totila's deceit

benedict discovers totila's deceit

benedict drives the
devil out of a stone

benedict drives the devil out of a stone

benedict recognizes
and receives totila

benedict recognizes and receives totila

benedict tells two
monks

benedict tells two monks what they have eaten


birth of saint john
the baptist

birth of saint john the baptist


capture of christ

capture of christ

christ and the
doubting thomas

christ and the doubting thomas

communion of
the apostles

communion of the apostles

conversion
of paul

conversion of paul



flagellation

flagellation

holy family with
saint

holy family with saint


lamentation

lamentation

 

last supper

last supper

madonna and child
with saints

madonna and child with saints and angels

marriage
of the virgin

marriage of the virgin

martyrdom of saint
sebastian

martyrdom of saint sebastian

moses's testament
and death

moses's testament and death

portrait of an
elderly man

portrait of an elderly man


prayer in
the garden

prayer in the garden

scourging
of christ

scourging of christ

sermon and deeds
of the antichrist

sermon and deeds of the antichrist


the damned

the damned


the elect

the elect

resurrection of
the flesh

resurrection of the flesh


the trinity

the trinity

luca signorelli
with fran angelico

sermon and deeds of the antichrist with self portrait of luca signorelli with fran angelico