SIGNORELLI, Luca

According to the prediction in the Scriptures, the deeds of the Antichrist take place immediately before the end of the world, in those last days when ‘the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken’ (Mark, 13: 24-25).

For his description of the end of the world the artist had to make do with the narrow spaces on either side of the entrance door to the chapel. He was thus forced to divide the scene into two narrative sections. To the right he describes the first signs of the Apocalypse, which has been the object of prophecies since earliest times. In the foreground, in the lower part of the painting, he has shown King David and the Sibyl, as witnesses of Dies Irae. The stars go pale, fires and earthquakes sweep the earth, war and murder spread throughout the world. The lefthand section recounts the epilogue of this preannounced catastrophe. Demons looking like monstrous bats soar through the darkened sky, showering earth with flaming arrows; the last survivors fall under their shots, piling up on top of each other like broken dolls.

The picture shows the left-hand section of the frescoes on the entry wall. This section recounts the epilogue of this preannounced catastrophe. Demons looking like monstrous bats soar through the darkened sky, showering earth with flaming arrows; the last survivors fall under their shots, piling up on top of each other like broken dolls.

The picture shows the right-hand section of the frescoes on the entry wall. Here the painter describes the first signs of the Apocalypse, which has been the object of prophecies since earliest times. In the foreground, in the lower part of the painting, he has shown King David and the Sibyl, as witnesses of Dies Irae. The stars go pale, fires and earthquakes sweep the earth, war and murder spread throughout the world.

The detail shows the lower left part of the fresco.

The left-hand section recounts the epilogue of this preannounced catastrophe. In the lower part the last survivors fall under the shots of the demons, piling up on top of each other like broken dolls.

The detail shows the lower right part of the fresco.

In the right section of the Apocalypse Luca Signorelli describes the first signs of the Apocalypse, which has been the object of prophecies since earliest times. In the foreground, in the lower part of the painting, he has shown King David and the Sibyl, as witnesses of Dies Irae. The stars go pale, fires and earthquakes sweep the earth, war and murder spread throughout the world.

The picture shows a detail of the upper left part of the fresco.

Demons looking like monstrous bats soar through the darkened sky, showering earth with flaming arrows.

Luca Signorelli completed the overall decoration of the Chapel of San Brizio in the small chapel on the far wall by the figures of Archangels Raphael (with Tobias), Gabriel and Michael (weighing souls and subjugating the devil), by Bishop Saints Brizio and Constant, and the Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Sts Faustinus and Parentius who were buried here. On the painted keystone Judith with the head of Holofernes is depicted.

The picture shows the vaulting of the Chapel of San Brizio. The frescoes were begun by Fra Angelico and completed by Luca Signorelli. Above the altar wall is Christ as World Judge flanked by prophets led by John the Baptist (right) and apostles with the Virgin (left).

This fresco was painted by Luca Signorelli following the pattern set by Fra Angelico.

The last opening, centred on the right as one enters, presents another familiar event, but one that in its composition repeats the pairings of the apostles, for it presents two figures side by side. In this case it is Christ and the apostle Thomas, who places his hand against the wound in Christ’s side to assure himself that this is the resurrected Christ.

The picture shows an additional poet portrait from the wainscoting panels.

This work seems to be straining to escape from the cruel and tragic style of the Last Judgment of Orvieto and the Lamentation of Cortona, in order to imitate the sweet tones of the airy architecture of Raphael and the new sixteenth-century school.

The iconography of this panel is very unusual. The apostles, some standing, some on their knees, surround Christ to receive the consecrated Host. This contrasts with the traditional way in which the apostles are represented, seated around a set table. A classical structure functions as a background. The work reminds one of the rhythmic works of Perugino and seems to imitate Raphael’s School of Athens. The figure of Judas is stupendous; he is leaning to one side hiding the Host in his bag with a look that shows the painful realization of his betrayal.

The painting is signed and dated on the first capitals of the background columns.

Borrowing a decoration programme that had already been used in 1494 by Pinturicchio in the Borgia Apartment in Rome, Signorelli decided to decorate the area below his frescoes with grotesque ornamental motifs, busts of philosophers and poets, as well as monochromes illustrating their work. It is possible that the busts of philosophers and poets are intended as symbols of reason and moral values, the only instruments that man can use to keep in check the powerful animal instincts of his nature and to attain the higher spheres of the spirit.

But one thing is certain: this apparently minor section, which was painted to a large extent by Signorelli’s assistants, contains fascinating inventions and reaches extraordinary heights of expression. The artist gives free rein to his imagination in these grotesques, and the result is comparable only to the scenes that Filippino Lippi was painting at about the same time in the Strozzi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

The only one of philosophers and poets that can be identified with certainty is Dante Alighieri, and some of the loveliest and most famous of the monochromes are illustrations of episodes from the Divine Comedy, for the most part from Purgatory.

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The only one of the busts of philosophers and poets that can be identified with certainty is Dante Alighieri, and some of the loveliest and most famous of the monochromes are illustrations of episodes from the Divine Comedy - for the most part from Purgatory. In these Orvieto frescoes Signorelli proves that he is a talented illustrator of Dante, but what is truly fascinating is that he has succeeded in giving an interpretation of the Divine Comedy that is evocative and visionary, so similar to more modern styles that one can’t help but compare it to the work of such artists as Fuseli, Blake, Gustave Dor�. If one is still searching for evidence of Luca Signorelli’s inventive genius and of his astonishing versatility, then these decorations will provide it.

The decorative scheme is the following.

The series begins below the fresco of the Antichrist, with Homer and three episodes of Iliad. Below the Apocalypse Empedocles, the philosopher of Agrigento, who leans out to watch the scenes of his prophecy. The series of the poet goes on below the painting of the Resurrection, where Lucan is represented, with two scenes of Pharsalia (The slaughter of the Pompeians and the murder of Pompey).

The figure of Horace is surrounded by four medallions, in which some stories taken from Hades are narrated. It seems that Ovid - in the following panel - is speaking to an invisible interlocutor. The four scenes represent episodes of the metamorphoses. Virgil looks amazed aat the scene of the Damned. Dante - with some sccenes taken from the first two cantoes of Purgatory - is working. Other two medallions represent the martyrdom of St Faustine and SDt Peter Parenzo killed by hte heretics of Orvieto (1190).

This picture shows Dante and Virgil Entering Purgatory.

The picture shows the wainscoting to the right of the altar. In the panel below the window on the left, the deeds of Hercules are depicted; on the wall section to the right are scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

It is likely that for the ceiling frescoes (the groups of Apostles, Angels, Patriarchs, Doctors of the Church, Martyrs and Virgins) Signorelli simply completed the programme that had originally been devised by Fra Angelico.

The picture shows the wainscoting to the right of the entry. In the tondo a young man wearing turban, identified as Empedocles, a Greek philosopher (c. 490-430 BC), leans out of the window to watch the Apocalypse. On a small tablet set in among the grotesques, the painter’s initials “LS” can be seen.

If we look carefully at the anthropomorphic decorations, crowded with naked bodies in an incredible variety of poses, or the convulsive violence (that Scarpellini has compared to action painting) that runs through some of the foliage patterns or the groups of tritons and naiads like an electric current, we can really begin to understand Signorelli’s great ability as a draughtsman, a talent that is further confirmed by his drawing production.

There are evident influences from Florence in the painting, but the crowded figures and their complex, foreshortened poses look forward to Signorelli’s frescoes in the chapel of San Brizio in the cathedral at Orvieto.

Numerous Signorelli drawings have survived but only a few of them can be directly related to the Orvieto paintings. Many of their figures, such as the devils seen on the present drawing, would have had to be developed especially for this project, as Signorelli had never dealt with such subjects.

The man lying on the ground and biting his hand in the badly damaged fragment on the altar walls thought to represent Cain. In fact, biting one’s hand is a traditional symbol of envy, one of Cain’s seven sins. In the medallion of the grotesque decor below, a murder scene with Triton-like creatures is depicted. Here the murder weapon is the jawbone of an ass, the one used by Cain in killing his brother Abel.

This fresco fragment was discovered during a recent restoration.

The picture presents a view of the Chapel of San Brizio from the entry toward the altar wall and the vaulting. On the side walls, the preaching and deeds of the Antichrist and the joys of the chosen in paradise (left), the resurrection of the flesh and the tortures of the damned in hell (right) can be seen. In the first bay of the vaulting, painted by Signorelli, are virgins, patriarchs, martyrs, and Church fathers.

The side walls are covered with seven large scenes:

the Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist,

the Destruction of the World,

the Resurrection of the Flesh,

the Damned,

the Elect,

the Paradise,

the Hell.

The ceiling frescoes (the groups of Apostles, Angels, Patriarchs, Doctors of the Church, Martyrs and Virgins) had been devised by Fra Angelico. The lower part of the walls is decorated with grotesque patterns and with busts of philosophers and poets alongside monochromes commenting their works, as well as illustrations from the Divine Comedy. The overall decoration is completed in the jambs of the windows and in the small chapel on the far wall by the figures of Archangels Raphael (with Tobias), Gabriel and Michael (weighing souls and subjugating the devil), by Bishop Saints Brizio and Constant, and the Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saints Parenzo and Faustino.

This drawing depicts a poet wearing a cap and crowned with a laurel wreath. This impressive portrait is very likely the one of Virgil. The flat beretto of the type worn by scholars was a standard attribute in portraits of Virgil. Virgil’s portrait in the compartment behind the Baroque altar in the Chapel of San Brizio in Orvieto has now been lost.

In presenting the works of Signorelli, Vasari testifies that the this painting was made for the Sala delle Udienze of the Capitani di Parte Guelfa in Florence. Furthermore, this tondo is one of the first known works which depicts the Holy Family in a landscape, and it served as a model for a whole generation of artists, from Michelangelo and his Doni Tondo, to Raphael and Andrea del Sarto. In fact, the monumental rendering of the figures, placed in the foreground and almost invading the physical world, is certainly the most characteristic feature of the painting, a detail that differs from the works of his youth and seems to anticipate 16th-century techniques.

The Virgin, characterized by a pearly complexion and wide red tunic, is intent on reading a book, while Christ turns his gaze to St Joseph. The three subjects in their monumentality occupy the whole painted space; on the background, we can see a barely defined desert or country landscape and some figures heading towards the fortifications.

The Holy Family represents one of the apexes of Signorelli’s career, marking the achievement of his artistic maturity. In the hands of St Joseph and in the profile of the Child, in fact, we note cues deriving from Bartolomeo della Gatta and Verrocchio, with whom the artist carried out his apprenticeship. Additionally, the tender face of Mary and the human gaze of Joseph reveal the innovations which characterize the fundamental stylistic production of the painter.

The static pose of the figures, which are seen in a moment of frozen drama, reveals strong links with popular religious plays. An account of Vasari says that Signorelli wanted to represent in the figure of the naked Christ his own son, who died of plague in 1502.

The Lamentation, a work done entirely the artist alone, reveals all the poetry of the painter even in the context of an unrefined style which may seem declamatory, scenic and rhetorical. It strikes the observer with great power and energy on account of its dimensions, the liveliness of its colour and the strong statuesque attitude of the figures. The central characters are expressive and are painted in an attitude of pain. In the background two lively scenes contrast with the stillness of the central group of characters. In the middle, there is an unreal landscape, clear and clean, but interrupted by the tragic image of the blood flowing down the wood of the cross.

This picture shows the Lamentation panel together with the predella, which consists of four scenes from the Passion of Christ: The prayer in the Garden; The Last Supper; The Capture; The Flagellation.

Luca Signorelli completed the overall decoration of the Chapel of San Brizio in the small chapel on the far wall by the figures of Archangels Raphael (with Tobias), Gabriel and Michael (weighing souls and subjugating the devil), by Bishop Saints Brizio and Constant, and the Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saints Faustinus (left) and Parentius (right).

Scene 23 of the cycle on the life of St Benedict depicts Benedict driving the devil out of a stone.

Some scenes of the cycle depicts the range of tasks that had to be accomplished to maintain the monastery’s self-sufficiency. Among these are the erection of churches and other buildings in accordance with the founder’s precepts - often delayed by interference from the archenemy Satan. The Evil One is omnipresent: in this scene he makes a stone so heavy that the monks are unable to raise it until Benedict comes to their aid.

Scene 25 of the cycle on the life of St Benedict depicts Benedict telling two monks where and what they have eaten outside the monastery.

In a number of scenes Benedict is required to be stern with his weaker brothers, either because they have become possessed by demons (Scene 13) or because they have given in to their cravings (Scene 25).

The scenes in which the community is confronted with a group of voluptuous women (Scene 19) and two of the brothers gorge themselves at a nearby inn (Scene 25) stand out with their brighter colours and rich details.

Scene 27 of the cycle on the life of St Benedict depicts Benedict discovering Totila’s deceit.

The two scenes dealing with the Gothic king Totila, painted by Signorelli, are crowded with figures and full of action, and in a sense fall out of the established framework of the cycle, for here the fathers are confronted with a powerful figure from the outside world. Benedict is not fooled by Totila’s ruse of sending his servant dressed in his own armour (Scene 27). Despite the king’s arrogance and trickery, Benedict subsequently receives him, confronts him with his numerous misdeeds, and prophesies his end (Scene 28).

Scene 28 of the cycle on the life of St Benedict depicts Benedict recognizing and receiving Totila.

The two scenes dealing with the Gothic king Totila, painted by Signorelli, are crowded with figures and full of action, and in a sense fall out of the established framework of the cycle, for here the fathers are confronted with a powerful figure from the outside world. Benedict is not fooled by Totila’s ruse of sending his servant dressed in his own armour (Scene 27). Despite the king’s arrogance and trickery, Benedict subsequently receives him, confronts him with his numerous misdeeds, and prophesies his end (Scene 28).

The Virgin is portrayed sitting in a flowery meadow, against a background of young athletes (probably to be interpreted as allegoric of ascetic virtues); towering above her are the monochrome figures of John the Baptist and two prophets. The figurative references contained in this painting are extremely varied and sophisticated. There are references to Piero della Francesca’s descendants of Adam (the young man in the background), to archeological elements, as well as tributes to Flemish painting (the monochromes in the upper part); and, above all, there is an explicit reference to Leonardo and his followers in the flowery meadow in the foreground, in the toned down colours, in the careful attention paid to chiaroscuro values.

The work has many unique details, beginning with the shape: the tondo, the traditional round shape favoured for religious paintings destined for private residences and the magistrates of the Florentine Republic, is framed with a false frame in carved stone adorned with the figures of two prophets intent upon their writing and, in the centre, the bust of St John the Baptist. The monochromatic tones of the frame serve to enhance the vibrancy of the image of the Madonna, humbly seated on the ground in a natural setting surrounded by the ruins of ancient monuments and absorbed in the care of the baby Jesus, whose nudity emphasizes his human nature. The figures clustered in the background are also nude; the significance of this is unclear, although one interpretation could be the representation of mankind before the time of the Law of Moses and the coming of Christ; similar ‘ignudi’, or nude figures can be seen in the background of the Holy Family by Michelangelo, also housed at the Uffizi.

The iconographic complexity of the work, as well as the unusual layout, seem to suggest a cultured, refined and avant-garde client. Originating from the Medici villa of Castello, according to Vasari the painting was carried out for Lorenzo de’ Medici; this is most likely not Lorenzo the Magnificent but rather his cousin, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco. There can be no doubt that the learned symbolism and the allegorical references the painting contains would have been fully appreciated by the Medici Court, whose religious ideals in those years were founded on highly intellectual and philosophical studies, deeply imbued with Platonism and Classicism.

In this major altarpiece by Luca Signorelli, the enthroned Madonna and Child is accompanied by four saints, two of whom stand upon the base which supports her throne. A lute-playing angel, seated beneath the Virgin, intently tunes his instrument. Below a transparent glass with flowers casts a shadow, revealing the light source from the left.

Three episodes from the legend of St Catherine of Alexandria appear side by side in Signorelli’s painting. On the left, a pagan emperor sits enthroned alongside his wisest philosophers, whom Catherine would skillfully convert to her Christian beliefs. On the right, angels destroy a wheel devised by the enraged emperor to torture Catherine, and in the centre, she has been beheaded.

This panel originally formed part of a predella beneath the main sections of an altarpiece commissioned for the Bichi Chapel in the church of Sant’Agostino in Siena.

The figure bending at the waist was a popular motif at the end of the fifteenth century, especially experimented with for the companies of archers in narratives of St Sebastian’s torture. Such poses give variation to figural groups and demonstrate the artist’s skill, both in drawing and in placing the figure in a complex space.

The fresco is from the cycle of the life of Moses in the Sistine Chapel. It is located in the sixth compartment on the south wall.

The fresco depicts the last episodes in the life of Moses. On the right sits the hundred-and-twenty-year-old Moses on a rise, holding his staff and with golden rays circling his head. At Moses’s feet stands the ark of the Covenant, opened to show the jar of manna inside and the two tables of the law. In the left half of the picture Joshua is appointed Moses’s successor. Joshua kneels before Moses, who gives him his staff. In the centre of the background we see Moses being led by the angel of the Lord up Mount Nebo, from which he will be able to look across to the Promised Land that by the will of God he will never enter. At the foot of the mountain we see him again, turning toward the left. His death is depicted in the background, in the land of Moab, where the children of Israel mourned him for thirty days.

Signorelli must have been just over thirty, when he became involved in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel. Luca’s name does not appear among the group of Tuscan and Umbrian artists (Cosimo Rosselli, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino) who, on 27 October 1481, signed the contract for the decoration of the side walls of the famous chapel, which were to be frescoed with Biblical scenes. But Vasari is absolutely certain of his involvement and his hand is evident in some details of the huge scene of Moses’s Testament and Death. The painting, at any rate as it appears to us today, is for the most part the work of Bartolomeo della Gatta, reflecting his typical use of vibrant colour and subtle lighting. But, amidst the numerous figures that populate the scene, there are some whose anatomical description is full of energy and who convey powerful emotions: the young nude seated in the centre, for example, or the two clothed figures portrayed with their backs to the onlooker, or the man with the stick leaning against Moses’s throne. Luca Signorelli’s hand appears quite obvious in these details, and in others as well.

The painting is for the most part the work of Bartolomeo della Gatta. But, amidst the numerous figures that populate the scene, there are some whose anatomical description is full of energy and who convey powerful emotions: e.g. the man with the stick leaning against Moses’s throne. Luca Signorelli’s hand appears quite obvious in this detail, and in others as well.

The painting is for the most part the work of Bartolomeo della Gatta. But, amidst the numerous figures that populate the scene, there are some whose anatomical description is full of energy and who convey powerful emotions: the young nude seated in the centre, for example. Luca Signorelli’s hand appears quite obvious in this detail, and in others as well.

The picture shows an additional poet portrait from the wainscoting panels.

The individual apostles cannot be identified with the exception of Peter and John, who stand in the panel to the left of the Christ-Thomas grouping. The idea of presenting pairs of apostles in debate is borrowed from the bronze doors that Donatello created for the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, Florence. Signorelli borrowed not only some of the compositional features of Donatello’s reliefs but also specific iconographic details. Like Donatello, he depicts his apostles barefoot and draped in classical garments, eschewing any identifying attributes and even halos.

The individual apostles cannot be identified with the exception of Peter and John, who stand in the panel to the left of the Christ-Thomas grouping. The idea of presenting pairs of apostles in debate is borrowed from the bronze doors that Donatello created for the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, Florence. Signorelli borrowed not only some of the compositional features of Donatello’s reliefs but also specific iconographic details. Like Donatello, he depicts his apostles barefoot and draped in classical garments, eschewing any identifying attributes and even halos.

The individual apostles cannot be identified with the exception of Peter and John, who stand in the panel to the left of the Christ-Thomas grouping. The idea of presenting pairs of apostles in debate is borrowed from the bronze doors that Donatello created for the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, Florence. Signorelli borrowed not only some of the compositional features of Donatello’s reliefs but also specific iconographic details. Like Donatello, he depicts his apostles barefoot and draped in classical garments, eschewing any identifying attributes and even halos.

The individual apostles cannot be identified with the exception of Peter and John, who stand in the panel to the left of the Christ-Thomas grouping. The idea of presenting pairs of apostles in debate is borrowed from the bronze doors that Donatello created for the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, Florence. Signorelli borrowed not only some of the compositional features of Donatello’s reliefs but also specific iconographic details. Like Donatello, he depicts his apostles barefoot and draped in classical garments, eschewing any identifying attributes and even halos.

Very few portraits survive from Signorelli’s hand. Indubitably his finest is the Portrait of an Elderly Man, probably of a humanist. It is often said to be of a jurist, that profession and humanism considered practically inseparable. Victories before a temple approach athletes in front of a triumphal arch, these all’antica themes pertinent to the sitter’s scholarly calling or pretensions. The action taking place in the background may be on his mind, as suggested by his downcast eyes. The hard-won balance between hat, head, V-shaped scarf, and the far-smaller figures is among the major triumphs of his great portrait.

This fresco is located in the first compartment on the right wall.

The account of the Apocalypse then continues with three large scenes, the Resurrection of the Flesh, the Damned and the Elect, and two smaller ones on either side of the chapel’s window, Paradise and Hell.

It is primarily in this section of the fresco cycle that Signorelli has given free rein to his inventive genius. An inventiveness that, as Berenson said, made him one of the greatest of modern illustrators, and thanks to which his art is still an extremely important part of our figurative heritage. Despite the rhetorical devices, the theatrical ruses and the occasional contrived details, despite the limitations in his draughtsmanship and use of colour recognized by all modern critics, there is no denying that never before in Italian art had figurative ideas of such unforgettable power been used. Viewed all together the huge frescoes in the Orvieto chapel give an impression of overcrowding and of confusion which is far from pleasing. We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’ and therefore justify Berenson’s statement. See, for example, in the Resurrection of the Flesh, the macabre but hilarious idea of the nude with his back to the observer who is carrying on a conversation with the skeletons; or the skulls surfacing through the cracks in the ground, who put on their bodies as though they were a costume, and become human beings once again.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the skulls surfacing through the cracks in the ground, who put on their bodies as though they were a costume, and become human beings once again.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the skulls surfacing through the cracks in the ground, who put on their bodies as though they were a costume, and become human beings once again.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the skulls surfacing through the cracks in the ground, who put on their bodies as though they were a costume, and become human beings once again.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the macabre but hilarious idea of the nude with his back to the observer who is carrying on a conversation with the skeletons.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the skulls surfacing through the cracks in the ground, who put on their bodies as though they were a costume, and become human beings once again.

The picture shows an additional poet portrait from the wainscoting panels. The portrait of Sallust is cut off by the framing of the side chapel.

This panel and another, The Birth of the Virgin in the same private collection, are from a predella of an unidentified Luca Signorelli altarpiece. In this panel three episodes are depicted: Joachim’s expulsion from the temple; an angel visiting him in his retreat; meeting with his wife at the Golden Gate.

The depicted scenes are the Moses’s Testament by Luca Signorelli and the Punishment of Corah by Sandro Botticelli.

This painting is on a brick on the back of which is an inscription praising Signorelli as the painter of the Chapel of San Brizio. Niccolò d’Angeli Franceschi was the ‘camerarius’ of the Fabbrica of Orvieto cathedral from 1500 to 1501. The unusual medium and the inscription suggest that this portrait was possibly meant as a personal souvenir for the camerarius to mark the completion of the project in the chapel.

It is quite likely that the Deeds of the Antichrist is intended as a reference to Savonarola, the Dominican friar hanged and burnt at the stake in Florence on 23 May 1498. In a ‘Papist’ city like Urbino, and in the case of an artist like Signorelli who had been a Medici prot�g� and who thought of himself basically as a victim of persecution from the Florentine democratic government (a fact we learn from Michelangelo), this identification of Savonarola with the Antichrist is very plausible; it is also supported by a famous passage in Marsilio Ficino’s Apologia, published in 1498, where the Ferrarese monk is again identified as the false prophet.

There is no doubt that Signorelli has given us a very convincing portrayal of the sinister and mysterious atmosphere evoked in the prophecies of the Gospels in the huge fresco showing the Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist. Against a vast and desolate background, dominated on the right by an unusually large classical building, depicted in distorted perspective, the false prophet is shown disseminating his lies and spreading his message of destruction. He has the features of Christ, but it is Satan (portrayed behind him) who tells him what to say. The people around him, who have piled up gifts at the foot of his throne, have clearly already been corrupted by the iniquities the Gospel has warned us of. And, starting from the left, we have a description of a brutal massacre, followed by a young woman selling her body to an old merchant, and then more aggressive and evil-looking men. In the background of this scene all sorts of horrors and miraculous events are taking place. The Antichrist orders people to be executed and even resurrects a man, while a group of clerics, huddled together like a fortified citadel, resist the devil’s temptations by praying. Lastly, to the left, Signorelli shows us how the age of the Antichrist is rapidly reaching its inevitable epilogue, with the false prophet being hurled down from the heavens by the Angel and all his followers being defeated and destroyed by the wrath of God.

That this scene is the masterpiece of the whole cycle (at least in terms of originality of invention and evocation of fantastic imagery) even Signorelli himself must have realized, and he has placed himself, together with a monk (traditionally identified as Fra Angelico) on the left-hand side of the composition.

That this scene is the masterpiece of the whole cycle (at least in terms of originality of invention and evocation of fantastic imagery) even Signorelli himself must have realized, and he has placed himself, together with a monk (traditionally identified as Fra Angelico) on the lefthand side of the composition. Wearing a black cap and cloak, as was suitable for a respected artist, an attractive and elegantly dressed man in his fifties as Vasari describes him, Luca Signorelli really looks like a director so pleased with himself for the success of his theatrical representation that he stands on stage for his deserved curtain call (Scarpellini).

The detail shows the self-portrait and the portrait of Fra Angelico.

The false prophet is shown disseminating his lies and spreading his message of destruction. He has the features of Christ, but it is Satan (portrayed behind him) who tells him what to say. The people around him, who have piled up gifts at the foot of his throne, have clearly already been corrupted by the iniquities the Gospel has warned us of.

The detail shows a young woman selling her body to an old merchant.

In 1498 Luca Signorelli executed a great altarpiece for the Bichi Chapel in the church of Sant’Agostino, Siena. Two wings, now in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, flanked a statue of St Christopher ascribed to Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Mus�e du Louvre, Paris). The predella is now divided between various museums.

The left wing of the altarpiece represents Sts Catherine of Siena, Magdalen, and the kneeling St Jerome.

In 1498 Luca Signorelli executed a great altarpiece for the Bichi Chapel in the church of Sant’Agostino, Siena. Two wings, now in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, flanked a statue of St Christopher ascribed to Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Mus�e du Louvre, Paris). The predella is now divided between various museums.

The right wing of the altarpiece represents Sts Augustine, Catherine of Alexandria and the kneeling Anthony of Padua.

The picture shows the Roman Poet Statius.

If we look carefully at the anthropomorphic decorations, crowded with naked bodies in an incredible variety of poses, or the convulsive violence that runs through some of the foliage patterns or the groups of tritons and naiads like an electric current, we can really begin to understand Signorelli’s great ability as a draughtsman, a talent that is further confirmed by his drawing production.

Signorelli studied firsthand from the living model to create his marvelous drawings, which are often specific preparatory efforts for his frescoes. The only artist whose skill as a draftsman could equal that of Signorelli was the young Florentine sculptor who was required to paint a vast cycle in Rome a few years later, namely Michelangelo. It comes as no surprise that Michelangelo was not only acquainted with the painter from Cortona, but even lent him money.

The only one of the busts of philosophers and poets that can be identified with certainty is Dante Alighieri, and some of the loveliest and most famous of the monochromes are illustrations of episodes from the Divine Comedy - for the most part from Purgatory. In these Orvieto frescoes Signorelli proves that he is a talented illustrator of Dante, but what is truly fascinating is that he has succeeded in giving an interpretation of the Divine Comedy that is evocative and visionary, so similar to more modern styles that one can’t help but compare it to the work of such artists as Fuseli, Blake, Gustave Dor�. If one is still searching for evidence of Luca Signorelli’s inventive genius and of his astonishing versatility, then these decorations will provide it.

This picture shows The Angel Arrives in Purgatory.

The individual apostles cannot be identified with the exception of Peter and John, who stand in the panel to the left of the Christ-Thomas grouping. The idea of presenting pairs of apostles in debate is borrowed from the bronze doors that Donatello created for the Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo, Florence. Signorelli borrowed not only some of the compositional features of Donatello’s reliefs but also specific iconographic details. Like Donatello, he depicts his apostles barefoot and draped in classical garments, eschewing any identifying attributes and even halos.

This panel and another, The Birth of the Virgin in the same private collection, are from a predella of an unidentified Luca Signorelli altarpiece.

In the predella that Signorelli probably painted with the help of his assistant, Gerolamo Genga, four scenes from the Passion of Christ are represented: The Prayer in the Garden; The Last Supper; The Capture; The Flagellation.

This picture shows the scene of the Capture.

The Conversion of Paul, a scene filled with dramatic movements, fills the opening above the door, and the viewer sees it only when he turns to leave.

The account of the Apocalypse continues with three large scenes, the Resurrection of the Flesh, the Damned and the Elect, and two smaller ones on either side of the chapel’s window, Paradise and Hell.

It is primarily in this section of the fresco cycle that Signorelli has given free rein to his inventive genius. An inventiveness that, as Berenson said, made him one of the greatest of modern illustrators, and thanks to which his art is still an extremely important part of our figurative heritage. Despite the rhetorical devices, the theatrical ruses and the occasional contrived details, despite the limitations in his draughtsmanship and use of colour recognized by all modern critics, there is no denying that never before in Italian art had figurative ideas of such unforgettable power been used. Viewed all together the huge frescoes in the Orvieto chapel give an impression of overcrowding and of confusion which is far from pleasing. We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’ and therefore justify Berenson’s statement.

Signorelli’s fresco cycle in Orvieto is full of humour, grotesque inventions, erotic allusions and ribald jokes. There is no need to refer to the profane spirit of the Renaissance to explain this. On the contrary, these scenes fit in very well with the idea of the Cathedral as theatrum mundi, as the mirror image of the whole universe, and they are fully in the spirit of the religious plays of the time. Basically, neither Signorelli nor his patrons wanted to do without the enjoyment provided by story-telling, a typically Italian style based on humorous and imaginative details. But this in no way invalidates the dogmatic truth of the prophecies relating to the end of the world, which, especially in those turbulent years, really came across as a terrifying threat. It becomes quite understandable that Michelangelo would have been really interested in these Orvieto frescoes. But he in no way imitated Luca’s work , (as Vasari would have us believe), for the spirituality and the moral content of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel have absolutely nothing in common with the theatrical representation in Orvieto. Michelangelo perhaps found in Signorelli’s frescoes a useful iconographical repertory, a catalogue of surprising and unusual inventions.

In any case the parts of the fresco cycle that would have attracted Michelangelo’s curiosity most would certainly have been the scenes with devils and other imaginary figures, those scenes that were best suited to Signorelli’s eccentric temperament, to his irony and macabre humour.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the beautiful naked woman lying on the ground, screaming in fear of the terrible punishment that lies in store for her at the hands of the devil who has captured her and is now towering over her from behind, as strong and powerful as a Roman gladiator.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this picture, the justly famous detail of the flying devil carrying off a young girl and turning around, with a broad, satisfied grin on his face.

We have to isolate the individual details in order to grasp the greatness of Signorelli the ‘illustrator’ and the ‘inventor’. For example, in this detail, the demon attacking a young woman from behind, biting her ear, and she does not appaear to mind all that much.

And Luca Signorelli has portrayed himself as a devil, too: with just one horn in the middle of his forehead, he is embracing a beautiful blonde who is trying to break away from his fiery assault.

One can’t help imagining that this rather unusual self-portrait must be a reference to some episode in Signorelli’s private life, something that we know nothing about, but which must have been public knowledge in both Cortona and Orvieto at the time. Probably the story of a woman who was unfaithful to the painter: and in fact, if we look carefully we can see that this is the same woman portrayed as the sinner being carried off by the flying demon, as the woman being grabbed from behind by the other demon, and even as the prostitute being paid by the old merchant in the scene of the Antichrist’s Sermon.

The detail shows a group of devils and damned souls.

The scene of the Damned is constructed around the visionary, almost surrealistic, idea of these crowds of naked figures jostling for space along the banks of the Acheron.

In this representation, at the foot of two big mountains, along the shore of the Acheron, a devil with a white banner leads a group of damned. Other damned are in despair since they see Charon’s boat getting near. Below there is Minos punishing a damned man. Above, two angels, one wearing a breast-plate and the other covered with veils, are watching the scene.

The scene of the Damned is constructed around the visionary, almost surrealistic, idea of these crowds of naked figures jostling for space along the banks of the Acheron. A devil with a white banner leads a group of damned. Other damned are in despair since they see Charon’s boat getting near.

The splendid group in the foreground depicts the devil whipping a terrified, screaming sinner (reminiscent of a Pollaiolo figure). Michelangelo was clearly fascinated by this powerful scene of cruelty and did a drawing of it.

There is no doubt that Luca Signorelli’s portrayal of the Elect is far less convincing than his fresco of the Damned. Despite his extremely accurate studies of the human body, his depiction of Paradise is no more than a conventional catalogue of good sentiments and the overall effect is one of unmitigated dullness. The same is true of the pair of frescoes depicting the Elect being called to Paradise and the Damned being plunged into Hell.

In this scene nine angels show to the blessed the way to Heaven.

The picture shows the frescoes on the altar wall of the chapel: The Elect Being Called to Paradise (left) and The Damned Being Plunged into Hell (right). In the window embrasures are angels and Sts Brizio and Constantius, while in the tondi of the side window embrasures, the archangel Michael and a demon (left) and the archangel Raphael with Tobias (right).

There is no doubt that Luca’s portrayal of the Elect is far less convincing than his fresco of the Damned. Despite his extremely accurate studies of the human body, his depiction of Paradise is no more than a conventional catalogue of good sentiments and the overall effect is one of unmitigated dullness. The same is true of the pair of frescoes depicting the Elect being called to Paradise and the Damned being plunged into Hell.

Although each covers a half wall interrupted by an arch, the scene of the blessed being summoned to heaven is unimaginative and common-place, with its pretty musician angels and chocolate-box portrayals of the Elect. Whereas the scene of the Damned is constructed around the visionary, almost surrealistic, idea of these crowds of naked figures jostling for space along the banks of the Acheron, and the splendid group in the foreground of the devil whipping a terrified, screaming sinner (reminiscent of a Pollaiolo figure). Michelangelo was clearly fascinated by this powerful scene of cruelty and did a drawing of it.

In the predella that Signorelli probably painted with the help of his assistant, Gerolamo Genga, four scenes from the Passion of Christ are represented: The Prayer in the Garden; The Last Supper; The Capture; The Flagellation.

This picture shows the scene of the Flagellation.

The abbey of Monteoliveto Maggiore which stands atop a spur of the Crete Senese, the barren, rocky country southeast of Siena, is one of the most important and best preserved monastic complexes in southern Tuscany. It was founded by the prominent and well-to-do legal scholar Giovanni Tolomei (1272-1348), who resigned his post as podestà of Siena and renounced his worldly interests to take up the life of a hermit. He was joined by two other men from Siena, Ambrogio Piccolomini and Patrizio Patrizi. The three built themselves shelters in this hostile landscape and over the years still others were attracted to the fledgling ascetic community. On March 26, 1319, the Bishop of Arezzo, Guido Tarlati, confirmed the congregation as a new religious order.

The abbey is constructed entirely of brick, and comprises a jumble of structures linked by three inner courtyards, or cloisters, of different sizes and with different functions. The Great Cloister (Chiostro Grande) around which the more important communal spaces are disposed was constructed in stages between 1426 and 1443. The cloister was frescoed by Luca Signorelli with nine scenes on the west side (1497-99) and Sodoma with twenty-eight scenes (1505-08 and after 1513). The fresco cycle is comprised of thirty-six Scenes from the Life of St Benedict; St Benedict Presenting the Rule to the Olivetans; Man of Sorrow; Christ Carrying the Cross.

According to the documents the painters worked in a direction contrary to the chronological narrative sequence. This implies that a comprehensive plan for the cycle was being followed from the start. This master plan saw to it that the scenes with the greatest number of figures fell in the corner bays where they could be appreciated from a greater distance.

The life of St Benedict is considered as a reflection and ideal of the monastic life. The exemplary nature of the scenes presented in the cloister at Monteoliveto Maggiore gives the impression that they were deliberately selected for their bearing on life within the monastery. Virtually all of the community’s activities and concerns are reflected in them. The ultimate textual source for the Benedict cycle was the biography written by Gregory the Great in about 593-94, which tells the story of the important monastic founder in thirty-eight chapter.

One of the most frequent subjects in Signorelli’s production is the Madonna and Child, or Holy Conversation, in a roundel. A number of examples have come down to us, attributed with more or less convincing arguments to Luca, and all of them including the work of assistants. The painting in the Pitti Palace is one of these roundels.

The studious young woman may be identified as St Catherine of Alexandria or St Barbara.

One of the most frequent subjects in Signorelli’s production is the Madonna and Child, or Holy Conversation, in a roundel. A number of examples have come down to us, attributed with more or less convincing arguments to Luca, and all of them including the work of assistants. The painting in the Pitti Palace is one of these roundels.

The studious young woman may be identified as St Catherine of Alexandria or St Barbara.

In the predella that Signorelli probably painted with the help of his assistant, Gerolamo Genga, four scenes from the Passion of Christ are represented: The Prayer in the Garden; The Last Supper; The Capture; The Flagellation.

This picture shows the scene of the Last Supper from the predella.

In the predella that Signorelli probably painted with the help of his assistant, Gerolamo Genga, four scenes from the Passion of Christ are represented: The Prayer in the Garden; The Last Supper; The Capture; The Flagellation.

This picture shows the scene of the Prayer in the Garden.

Signed: “OPUS LUCE CORTONENSIS.” With the Madonna and Child, which is also in the Brera, this painting made up the double-faced processional image of the church of S. Maria del Mercato at Fabriano.

This work reveals the broad influences on the young artist, who had closely studied the work of Piero della Francesca, Melozzo da Forli, Perugino and Francesco di Giorgio. The example of Pollaiolo can be seen in the creation of space by means of the harmonious placement of the figures in a circle around Christ. A classicizing atmosphere is created by the relief running across the foreground, which places the scene on a stage and separates it from the spectator. Other classicizing elements are the column bearing an idol, and the simulated bas-reliefs of the background wall, which recalls the scaena of an ancient Roman theater.