Luca Signorelli

Luca Signorelli was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona, in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the Last Judgment (1499-1503) in Orvieto Cathedral are considered his masterpiece.

In his early 40s he returned to live in Cortona, after working in Florence, Siena and Rome (1478-84, painting a now lost section of the Sistine Chapel). With an established reputation, he remained based in Cortona for the rest of his life, but often travelled to the cities of the region to fulfill commissions. He was probably trained by Piero della Francesca in Florence, as his cousin Giorgio Vasari wrote.

Cortona hosted a major exhibition in 2023 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his death.

Biography
He was born Luca d'Egidio di Ventura in Cortona, Tuscany (some sources call him Luca da Cortona). The precise date of his birth is uncertain, but birth dates between 1441 and 1445 have been proposed. He died in 1523 in his native Cortona, where he is buried.

His first impressions of art seem to originate in Perugia - including the styles of artists such as Benedetto Bonfigli, Fiorenzo di Lorenzo and Pinturicchio. Lazzaro Vasari, the great-grandfather of art historian Giorgio Vasari, was Luca's maternal uncle. According to Giorgio Vasari, Lazzaro had Luca apprenticed to Piero della Francesca. In 1472 the young artist was painting at Arezzo, and in 1474 at Città di Castello. He presented to Lorenzo de' Medici a work which is likely School of Pan. Janet Ross and her husband Henry discovered the painting in Florence c. 1870 and subsequently sold it to the Kaiser Frederick Museum in Berlin, though it was destroyed there a few days after the end of World War II. The painting's subject is almost the same as that which he also painted on the wall of the Petrucci palace in Siena - the principal figures being Pan himself, Olympus, Echo, a man reclining on the ground, and two listening shepherds.

Signorelli worked in central Italy, leading a very requested workshop, increasing his importance during the 1490s. He often returned to his native Cortona, and worked in nearby Umbria, especially in Città di Castello, where he left one of his masterpieces: the Martyrdome of St Sebastian (still in the umbrian town). This painting was very influential for the young Raphael, who worked in the same town and sketched some drawings of the "Martyrdom".

In 1498, Signorelli 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; they are at present much injured. In the palace of Pandolfo Petrucci he worked on various classic or mythological subjects, including the aforementioned School of Pan. Signorelli remained healthy until his death, continuing to paint and accept commissions into his final year, including the altarpiece of the Church at Foiano.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2025