Home > Facts > Artists Facts > Luca Signorelli Facts

Luca Signorelli Facts

Luca Signorelli Facts
Luca Signorelli was an Italian Renaissance artist best-known for his work in the Orvieto Cathedral in the Chapel of San Brizio in Umbria. He was born Luca d'Egidio di Ventura in Cortona, Tuscany in approximately 1441. Not much is known of his personal life or early years, but it is known that he apprenticed with Piero della Francesca. By 1472 Luca Signorelli was painting at Arezzo in Tuscany, and in 1472 he was painting at Citta di Castello in Perugia. One of his early works named "The Court of Pan" he presented to Lorenzo de'Medici - but this was destroyed in WWII. Luca was commissioned to work in the Sistine Chapel in Rome and was known for both his sacred frescoes and for his naked human form studies, as well as his foreshortening techniques. It is believed that Luca influenced Michelangelo's masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel "The Last Judgement".
Interesting Luca Signorelli Facts:
Luca Signorelli was believed to have been influenced by a variety of artists including Benedetto Bonfigli, Pinturicchio, and Fiorenzo di Lorenzo.
Luca's mother's brother was Lazzaro Vasari - the great-grandfather of Giorgio Vasari - the art historian. It was Lazzaro who arranged for Luca to apprentice with Piero della Francesca.
Pope Sixtus IV commissioned Luca Signorelli to complete several frescoes in the shrine of Loreto including "Angels", "Doctors of the Church", "Evangelists", "Apostles", "Incredulity of Thomas", and "Conversion of St. Paul".
Pope Sixtus IV commissioned Luca Signorelli to create one fresco in the Sistine Chapel titled "Testament and Death of Moses".
For many years the fresco titled "Moses Leaving to Egypt" was attributed to Luca Signorelli but it was determined it was actually the work of Perugino.
From 1478 to 1484 Luca Signorelli worked in Rome.
Luca Signorelli's work in Orvieto is considered to be his greatest, including his work in the Orvieto Cathedral. His frescoes in the chapel include "The Antichrist", "The End of the World", "The Damned Banished to Hell", "The Resurrection of the Flesh", and "Elect in Paradise".
In Luca's fresco "The Antichrist", it is believed that he included several Renaissance personalities including Dante, Christopher Columbus, Cesare Borgia, Raphael, and even a self-portrait.
Luca Signorelli was extremely talented at painting nudes of both male and female subjects, believed to be due to his extensive study of human anatomy.
In 1508 Luca Signorelli was summoned by Pope Julius II to paint the Vatican Palace but his work, along with Pinturicchio and Perugino was later removed. Instead the pope favored Raphael's work instead.
Luca Signorelli created eight frescoes in the Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, but today these are faded and damaged.
Some of Luca Signorelli's major work also includes "The Scourging of Christ", Sant'Onofrio Altarpiece", "Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian", "Madonna and Child", "The Circumcision", "Portrait of a Man", "The Adoration of the Shepherds", "Portrait of Vitelozzo Vitelli", and "The Coronation of the Virgin".
Luca returned to Corona in his later years where he continued to paint, but many felt his work was not as impressive.
Luca was ill and partially paralyzed and died on October 16th, 1523 at the estimated age of 82.


Related Links:
Facts
Artists Facts
Animals Facts