Luca Signorelli (1445-1523)

Signorelli, Luca, full name Luca d'Egidio di Ventura de' Signorelli , was an Italian Renaissance painter, born in Cortona. One of the great masters of the Umbrian school, he was associated with the Tuscan painter Piero della Francesca, perhaps as his pupil, from whom he derived his treatment of perspective. His mastery of human anatomy was inspired by the work of the Florentine painter Antonio del Pollaiuolo.

The Madonna and Child with Four Saints and an Angel (1484), a signed altarpiece for a chapel in Perugia Cathedral, reveals his developed handling of anatomy. His masterpieces are the vast frescoes of scenes in hell, purgatory, and heaven, done (1499-1504) for the chapel of San Brizio in Orvieto Cathedral. Inspired by the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, they include the intensely dramatic End of the World and the Last Judgment, with violently contorted bodies. These powerful figures, with their realistic anatomical detail, influenced Michelangelo and Raphael.

Special thanks to the Microsoft Corporation for permission to use following biographical information from Microsoft® Encarta '97.

From: CGFA, created & maintained
by Carol L. Gerten (Jackson)
sunsite.auc.dk/cgfa/signorelli/signorelli_bio.htm.