Frescos – my daily art display

Luca Signorelli. Part 2.

Frescos at the Chapel of St Brizio inside the Orvieto’s Duomo

Part 1. Antichrist and The Destruction of the World frescos

In this second part of the blog looking at the works of Luca Signorelli, I want to examine his frescos in the Chapel of St Brizio at the Cathedral of Orvieto which are considered to be his foremost masterpieces.

The cathedral basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, Ovierto.

The cathedral in Orvieto, the cathedral basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, began to be built in 1290 at the request of Pope Nicholas IV with the intention of creating a single large place of worship for the city to replace the two churches that pre-existed, the episcopal church of Santa Maria and the parish church of San Costanzo, both of which made way for the new cathedral. This change was part of a broader urban redevelopment project driven by the frequent presence of the papal court in the city, which required a grand church for papal ceremonies. The building of the main cathedral was considered architecturally completed in 1532.

The Madonna di San Brizio altarpiece

In 1396, a century after construction began, Tommaso di Micheluccio from Orvieto left a legacy in his will to fund the construction of a chapel dedicated to the Assumption. This chapel was completed in 1444. Until 1622, the chapel was called La Cappella Nuova, as it was the last one to be built after that of the La Cappella del Corporale (Corporal Chapel)

La Cappella del Corporale (Corporal Chapel)

Why was it named the Corporal Chapel? The corporal is an altar linen used in Christianity for the celebration of the Eucharist. It is a small square of white linen cloth, usually somewhat smaller than the width of the altar on which they are used, so that they can be placed flat on top of it when unfolded. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, various altar vessels are placed on the corporal, including the chalice, the paten, and the ciborium containing the smaller hosts for the Communion of the laity

In 1263, while a Bohemian priest was celebrating mass in Bolsena, drops of blood came down from the host and went to wet the corporal. Pope Urban IV, knowing of the miraculous episode, had the Holy Linen transported to the city of Orvieto, where, the following year, he instituted the feast of Corpus Christi. Every year the city of Orvieto commemorates the miracle of Bolsena and the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi with the procession of the Sacred Corporal, accompanied by the parade of the historical procession in medieval costumes.

In 1622, the venerated image of the Majesty of the Table was transferred to the Capella Nuova. Legend had it that it was painted by St. Luke, but in reality the work is of the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. This relic was also known as the “Madonna di San Brizio”, because in 1464 the image of the saint had been added next to the Virgin, then removed; it ended up giving its name to the entire chapel, La Cappella di San Brizio, known simply as San Brizio,

Chapel of San Brizio

The idea to add the Chapel of San Brizio onto the main building of the cathedral in 1396 was a way to expand the thirteenth-century building. The actual extension was not completed until 1444. Three years later, on June 14th, 1447, the Opera del Duomo signed a contract with Fra Angelico to paint frescos on the Chapel vault, on the theme of the Last Judgment.

Frescoed vault by Giovanni da Fiesole known as Fra Angelico, Chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio, Cathedral of Orvieto. Italy

Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli began the decoration of the vault but only managed to complete the work on the ceiling depicting Heaven with the Saints, arranged in different ranks, surrounding Christ as the Judge sitting on a throne, before he was summoned to Rome by Pope Nicholas V to work on the Niccoline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City. In 1449, work in the Orvieto Cathedral came to a halt.

In 1489 Pietro Perugino, an Italian Renaissance painte, was approached to complete the work. However, he never began and for the next fifty years the decorations to the chapel were abandoned. In April 1499 the cathedral authorities approached Luca Signorelli for him to complete the vault frescos which had now been untouched for fifty years following Fra Angelico’s departure. Signorelli, along with his school of apprentices, assistants, and students, completed the frescos on the vault with scenes of the Choir of the Apostles, of the Doctors, of the Martyrs, Virgins and Patriarchs.

The vaulted ceiling

On completing the work on the vaulted ceiling, the cathedral board were so pleased with the results that in late 1499 they commissioned Signorelli to paint frescoes in the large lunettes of the walls of the chapel. He began in 1500 and the chapel frescos were completed in 1503. Art historians consider the frescoes in the chapel are the most complex and impressive works by Signorelli. As far as the subject matter, The Apocalypse, is concerned, it is one of the most important subjects of Christian iconography. It is likely that for the ceiling frescoes (the groups of Apostles, Angels, Prophets, Patriarchs, Doctors of the Church, Martyrs and Virgins) Signorelli simply completed the programme that had originally been devised by Fra Angelico. But the frescoes on the side walls, although the basic subject would have been planned in accordance with the Cathedral’s administrators and theologians, they are wholly the product of Signorelli’s fertile imagination. 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 works of Signorelli on the vaulted ceiling and on the upper walls represent the events surrounding the Apocalypse and the Last Judgment.

Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist by Luca Signorelli (1500-04)

The Apocalyptic events he depicted began with the Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist, and proceeded to Doomsday and The Resurrection of the Flesh. These frescos occupy three vast lunettes, each of them a single continuous narrative composition. Signorelli began in 1499 and the chapel frescos were completed in 1503. Art historians consider the frescoes in the chapel are the most complex and impressive work by him.

One such fresco focused on the Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist. It is a vision of apocalyptic deception, mass manipulation, and spiritual warfare. The Bible (Matthew 24: 23 – 25) recounts Jesus’ warning of false prophets:

“…Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’ – do not believe it. For false Christ’s and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time…”

Fra Bartolomeo: portrait of Girolamo Savonarola

Many believe that Signorelli’s depiction could also have been a reference to Girolamo Savonarola, the notorious Italian Dominican friar and preacher. who was identified as a false prophet. Savonarola was excommunicated for heresy and sedition and later hanged and burned at stake in Florence on May 23, 1498. Signorelli began the work just a year after the execution of Giralamo Savonarola. It was at a time people were suffering tyrannical cruelty, resulting in many impoverished citizens were being exploited. People were becoming obsessed with death, political turmoil, and the meaning of true righteousness.

At first glance, the fresco appears to depict a Christ-like figure giving a sermon to an entranced gathering. But this is not Christ the Messiah. It is the Antichrist whose motions mimic those of the real Christ as seen in traditional scenes of the Sermon on the Mount. However, we need to look closer at the scene. Just behind the speaker’s ear a demonic figure whispers commands of what the Christ-like figure should say. The portrayal of evil here is not monstrous, it is eloquent. It is believable, and troublingly recognisable. A crowd gathers. For some the speech is fascinating and believable. For others, it has caused great distress. It is this which reminds us that deception affects us differently depending on the thought process of each listener

Scenes of violence

False raising of Lazarus

In the mid-ground, horrifying scenes unfold, acts of violence, manipulation, and miraculous deceptions, including a false Lazrus-like raising of the dead. In the sky we see the Archangel Michael is heading towards Earth to fight the Antichrist.

In the lower left corner there are two darkly clothed gentlemen; the man to the left is apparently a self-portrait of the artist, while the man to the right is thought to have been a portrait of Fra Angelico.

The Antichrist does not brandish a sword. He simply wields words, ideas, of how to mesmerise the crowd. The Antichrist mimics the divine and offers signs and wonders so as to best influence the senses of the onlookers so that it causes them to find a way to avoid truthful reality. The depiction prophesises a warning that the art of twisting the truth becomes the most dangerous lie of all.

………………………..to be continued.

Much of the information was gained from Wikipedia plus a few excellent websites:

Italian Renaissance Art

The Art Story

Duomo di Orvieto

Luca Signorelli. Part 1.

Early life and the Sistene Chapel fresco.

Luca Signorelli self portrait

As we have just had three important days in the Christian calendar I thought I would have today’s blog all about one of the great Italian religious painters, Luca Signorelli, sometimes known as Luca da Cortona because of the town of his birth. Signorelli is undoubtedly most revered for his portrayal of figures in action together with his incomparable grasp of the human anatomy which can best be seen in the beautiful Orvieto frescoes. Luca was a painter of the High Renaissance period which represents the summit of Renaissance art and the culmination of all the exploratory activities of the quattrocento, or millequattrocento, which is Italian for ‘fourteen hundred’ and means the fifteenth century. It therefore embraces cultural and artistic activities in painting, sculpture and architecture during the period 1400-1500.

A Corpse-carrying Nude man by Luca Signorelli (1496). Musée du Louvre

Signorelli’s depictions of the human body were so precise that for him to have gained such knowledge and such levels of accuracy without carrying out actual dissections of the human body would have been impossible as at this time there was not sufficient literature that would have allowed an artist to learn so much about the different aspects of the human body. Artists sometimes could further knowledge of the human anatomy if they could dissect human bodies whilst others would dissect animals in order to develop their understanding of things like muscle balance. This close study of human anatomy resulted in artists being able to accurately go into much more detail when depicting the human body

Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Luca Signorelli (1502)

Signorelli had built up such a great reputation as a painter that he was invited to form part of an elite group of artists which were sent for by Pope Sixtus IV to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. The Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer known for his work Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Giorgio Vasari, said of him:

“…he was an artist who with his profound mastery of design, particularly in nudes, and with his grace in invention and in the composition of scenes, opened to the majority of craftsmen the way to the final perfection of art…”

Luca’s childhood days are poorly documented, but it is thought that Luca d’Egidio di Ventura de’ Signorelli was born around 1450 in Cortona, a small hill town and commune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany.

The Capture of Christ by Luca Signorelli (1502)

As a child he showed an interest in art and in the 1460s, Signorelli signed up to an apprenticeship with Early Renaissance painter, Piero della Francesca. He was said to have been a talented student and quickly took on board the principles of mathematics, geometry, and perspective that his tutor taught him. Around 1470, Signorelli, in his early twenties. married Gallizia di Piero Carnesecchi, and the couple went on to have three sons, Polidoro, a future painter and builder, Antonio who became assistant to his father, and Pier Tommaso. The couple also had two daughters, Gabriela, and Felicia. Documents show that in 1472 Luca was known to be living and working in the city of Arezzo, located about fifteen miles from his hometown of Cortona and two years later he was working in the nearby Città di Castello.

Stendardo della Flagellazione (The Flagellation Standa) by Luca Signorelli (c.1475)

One of Signorelli’s earliest extant paintings is his work entitled Stendardo della Flagellazione (The Flagellation Standa) and it is believed that it was completed around 1475. The work bears the artist’s signature, “OPUS LUCE CORTONENSIS,” confirming Signorelli’s authorship and reflecting his Cortona origins. The Flagellation Standard by Luca Signorelli, created as a double-sided processional banner for the Confraternity of the Raccomandati in Fabriano. Its role was to act as a primary devotional function by inspiring lay participants to engage in acts of penance and charity. The banner was carried during public processions, particularly those involving self-flagellation during Holy Week or times of crisis, with the banner’s vivid depiction of Christ’s scourging encouraging communal meditation on the Passion, fostering empathy and moral discipline among confraternity members who mimicked the Savior’s suffering to achieve spiritual redemption. The work was commissioned by the Confraternita dei Raccomandati di Santa Maria del Mercato church in Fabriano. The church is now destroyed. The commission was for a work of art which could be included in processional demonstrations of public flagellation. The depiction is based upon the biblical passages of John 19:1,

“…Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged…”

Jesus had been sentenced to death on the Cross by Pilate. But first he was to be flagellated, and soldiers tied him to a pillar and then scourged him. In his painting Signorelli depicted the event against an architectural background. The work is dated to the period prior to the artist’s journey to Rome in 1482, probably sometime around 1475.

Nursing Madonna in Glory by Luca Signorelli (c.1475)

Signorelli’s work is thought to be one side of a double-sided panel, with the second side being The Nursing Madonna. The reason behind the second work being that the fraternity also carried out philanthropic work to help orphaned and abandoned children. At some point between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the two sides were separated. Both sides are now in the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, to which they were brought in 1811 after the church’s suppression. The suppression of the Italian Church, particularly the Jesuits, during the Napoleonic era was a significant event in the history of Italy.

Moses’s Testament and Death by Luca Signorelli (1482)

Luca Signorelli was known as a master of fresco painting and one of his frescos can be seen at the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The 15th century decoration of the walls includes the false drapes, the Stories of Moses, and of Christ and the portraits of the Popes. It was completed by a team of painters made up initially of Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, Luca Signorelli and their respective workshops, which included Pinturicchio, Piero di Cosimo and Bartolomeo della Gatta. The fresco by Signorelli depicts the cycle of the life of Moses and can be found on the south wall of the chapel. Signorelli’s fresco entitled Moses’s Testament and Death illustrates the last chapters in the life of Moses.

Let us look closely at everything that is going on in this multi-populated fresco.

On the right foreground of the fresco 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 tablets of the law.

In the left foreground of the picture we see Joshua being appointed as 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.

His death is depicted in the background, in the land of Moab, where the children of Israel mourned him for thirty days. Moses’s followers are shown mourning his passing in Moab. Here, he lays amidst the group, enshrouded in white linen. At the far left is the cave in which he will be entombed.

Art historians believe that Signorelli collaborated on this work with his friend, Bartolomeo della Gatta, a painter, illuminator, and architect. The more active figures being executed by Signorelli. One such figure, a seated nude youth in the centre of the foreground, is believed to have served as a reference for the twenty nude figures – what Michelangelo called the Ignudi – painted on his famous chapel ceiling 25 years later.

Ignudo, Fresco, Cappella Sistina, Vatican by Michelangelo (1509)

However Signorelli is probably best known for his frescos at the Chapel of St Brizio inside the Orvieto’s Duomo…………………………………..

…………………..to be continued.

The information for this blog came from a number of websites, the main ones being:

The Art Story

The History of Art

Grokipedia