Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects/Luca Signorelli

by Giorgio Vasari

 

THE PAINTER, LUCA SIGNORELLI, OF CORTONA.

[born 1440—died 1521.]

The excellent painter, Luca Signorelli, of whom, according to the order of time, we are now to speak, was, in his day, most highly renowned through all Italy, and his works were held in more esteem than those of any other master have been at any time, seeing that in his paintings he showed the true mode of depicting the nude form, and proved that it can be made, although not without consummate art and much difficulty, to appear as does the actual life. This artist was the creature and disciple of Pietro dal Borgo-a San Sepolcro, and much did he labour in his youth to imitate, or rather to surpass, his master. While working with the latter in Arezzo, he was received into the house of Lazzaro Vasari, his uncle,^[1] as we have said,^[2] and there copied the manner of Pietro with such exactitude that it was difficult to distinguish the works of one from those of the other.

The first works of Luca were performed in Arezzo, where he painted the chapel of Santa Barbara, in the church of San Lorenzo: this he did in the year 1472. For the Brotherhood of Santa Caterina he painted, on canvas and in oil, the banner which is borne by that company in procession, as he did the banner for the Trinita; although this does not seem to be by the hand of Luca so much as by that of Pietro dal Borgo.^[3] In the same city, Luca Signorelli painted the picture of San Niccolb da Tolentino for the church of Sant’ Agostino: the very beautiful little stories of this work display excellent design and rich invention.^[4] In the same place our artist painted two angels^[5] in fresco, for the chapel of the Sacrament. In the church of San Francesco, and in the chapel of the Accolti family, he painted a picture for Messer Francesco,^[6] doctor of laws, wherein he depicted the portraits of the said Messer Francesco, with others of persons who were of his kindred. In this work is a figure of St. Michael weighing the souls of the departed, which is most admirable; and here Luca has displayed the knowledge he had acquired in the brilliancy of the arms, the reflected lights to be seen therein, and, in short, throughout every part of the work: in the hand of the archangel he has placed a balance, or pair of scales, in which the nude forms, some rising as the others sink, are foreshortened to admiration, and, among other ingenious things in this picture is a nude figure, most skilfully transformed into a fiend, with a lizard sucking the blood from a wound in its body. The Madonna is also present, with the Divine Child in her arms: Our Lady is accompanied by San Stefano, San Lorenzo, and Santa Caterina: there are, besides, two angels, one of whom is playing on a lute, the other on a small cithern, or rebeck. All these figures are so beautifully clothed, and adorned in a manner so judicious, that they awaken the utmost admiration. But the most extraordinary part of this painting is the predella, which is covered with small figures representing the Monks of St. Catherine.^[7]

In Perugia, also, Luca Signorelli executed many works; among others, one in the cathedral, painted by command of the Bishop, Messer Jacopo Vannucci, of Cortona: in this picture is the Virgin, with Sant’ Onofrio, Sant’ Ercolano, San Giovanni Battista, and San Stefano: there is also an exceedingly beautiful angel tuning a lute.^[8] In the church of San Francesco, in Volterra, this master painted a fresco, representing the Circumcision of Christ:^[9] this also is considered a wonderfully beautiful picture, but the Child having been injured by the damp, was repaired by Sodoma, whereby the beauty was much diminished. And, of a truth, it would often be much better to retain the works of excellent masters, though half spoiled, than suffer them to be retouched by less capable artists. In the same city Luca Signorelli painted a picture in tempera, for the church of Sant’ Agostino, and covered the predella with small figures representing the Crucifixion of Christ: this work has ever been considered to be one of extraordinary beauty.^[10] At Monte-a-Santa Maria he painted a picture, also in tempera, of the Dead Christ, and at Città di Gastello, a Nativity of the Saviour, for San Francesco,^[11] with another in San Domenico, the subject of which is San Sebastiano.^[12] At Cortona, his native city, this master painted a Dead Christ, in the church of Santa Margherita, which belongs to the Barefooted Friars; it is accounted one of his best works.^[13] In the same city he painted three pictures for the Society of Jesus; of these that which is placed at the high altar is most admirable; the subject is the Saviour, who administers the sacrament to the apostles, when Judas places the host in the money-bag.^[14] In the Capitular Church, which is now called the Episcopate, our artist painted certain Prophets of the natural size, in fresco, for the chapel of the Sacrament: around the tabernacle, moreover, are numerous Angels erecting a pavilion, and on each side are figures, one of St. Jerome, the other of St. Thomas Aquinas. For the high altar of the same church he painted a most beautiful Assumption on panel, and the designs for the pictures in the principal window of the church were prepared by his hand; the cartoons of Signorelli being executed by Stagio Sassoli, of Arezzo. At Castiglione, in the territory of Arezzo, Luca Signorelli painted a Dead Christ, with the Maries, over the chapel of the Sacrament, and in San Francesco at Lucignano he decorated the folding doors of a press, wherein there is deposited a branch of coral, on the summit of which is formed a cross. At Siena he painted a picture for the chapel of San Cristofano, in the church of St. Agostino, wherein are certain saints, in the midst of whom is a figure of San Cristofano in relief.^[15]

From Siena, Luca Signorelli repaired to Florence for the purpose of beholding the works of the living masters, as well as those of the departed: he there depicted nude figures of the Gods, on canvas, for Lorenzo de’ Medici, a work which was highly extolled,^[16] and a picture of Our Lady, with two prophets, small figures in terretta. This is now at Gastello, a villa belonging to the Signor Duke Cosimo.^[17] Both of these works he presented to the above-named Lorenzo, who never sufiered himself to be surpassed in liberality and generosity by any man. This master likewise painted a round picture of Our Lady, which is in the AudienceChamber belonging to the Chiefs of the Guelphic Council, and is exceedingly beautiful.^[18] At Chiusuri, in the territory of Siena, one of the principal abodes of the Monks of Monte Oliveto, Luca painted eleven historical scenes on one side of the cloister, representing therein events from the life of San Benedetto.^[19] From Cortona our artist sent certain of his works to Montepulciano,^[20] and to Foiano he sent an altarpiece, which is now on the high altar of the Capitular church: other pictures were, in like manner, sent to other places in the Valdichiana. In the Madonna of Orvieto, which is the principal church of that city, Luca Signorelli finished the chapel which had been commenced by Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. He there represented scenes descriptive of the Last Judgment, with most singular and fanciful invention. Angels, demons, earthquakes, ruins, fires, miracles of Antichrist, and many other objects of similar kind, are depicted in this work, with nude forms, varied foreshortenings, and many beautiful figures, the master having imagined to himself all that shall go to make up the terrors of that last and tremendous day. By this performance the artist enlightened the minds of all who came after him, for whom he has, indeed, greatly diminished the difficulties attendant on that mode of representation: nor am I surprised that the works of Luca were ever highly extolled by Michelagnolo, or that for his divine work of the Last Judgment, painted in the chapel (Sistine), he should have courteously availed himself, to a certain extent, of the inventions of that artist, as, for example, in the angels and demons, in the divisions of the heavens, and some other parts, wherein Michelagnolo imitated the mode of treatment adopted by Luca, as may be seen by every one.^[21]

In the work here alluded to are numerous portraits of the friends of Luca, as also his own: among others are those of Niccolo, Paolo, and Vitellozzo Vitelli,^[22] Giovan-Paolo and Orazio Baglioni, and many others, whose names are not known. In Santa Maria di Loretto, Signorelli painted certain frescoes in the Sacristy, the Four Evangelists namely, with the Four Doctors, and other Saints, all very beautiful:^[23] for this work he was most liberally remunerated by Pope Sixtus.^[24]

It is related of Luca Signorelli that he had a son killed in Cortona, a youth of singular beauty in face and person, whom he had tenderly loved. In his deep grief, the father caused his child to be despoiled of his clothing, and, with extraordinary constancy of soul, uttering no complaint and shedding no tear, he painted the portrait of his dead child, to the end that he might still have the power of contemplating, by means of the work of his own hands, that which nature had given him, but which an adverse fortune had taken away.

Being invited by Pope Sixtus to work in the chapel of his palace in competition with the numerous masters occupied there, Luca painted two pictures in that place accordingly, and these, even among so many, are considered the best: the first represents the Parting Bequest of Moses to the Hebrew people, after he had obtained a view of the promised land; the second exhibits the Heath of that Lawgiver.^[25]

Finally, having executed works for almost all the princes of Italy, and having become old, Luca Signorelli returned to Cortona, where, in his last years, he worked for his pleasure, rather than from any other motive, and because, having ever been accustomed to labour, he could not prevail on himself to live in idleness. In this his old age then he painted a picture for the Nuns of Santa Marghereta, in Arezzo,^[26] and one for the brotherhood of San Girolamo, the last being partly at the cost of Messer Niccolo Gamurrini, doctor of laws and auditor of the Iluota, whose portrait, taken from the life, is in the picture; he is kneeling before the Madonna, to whose protection he is recommended by San Niccolo, who is also depicted in the same painting. In the same work are figures of San Donato and San Stefano, with that of San Girolamo (St. Jerome) undraped, beneath; there is likewise a figure of David, singing to a Psaltery, with two Prophets, who are seen, by the written scrolls which they hold in their hands, to be engaged in a conference on the conception of the Virgin. This work was transported from Cortona to Arezzo by the members of that brotherhood, who bore it on their shoulders from the first-named city to the last, when Luca also, old as he was, determined on repairing to Arezzo, to see the picture in its place, and also that he might visit his kindred and friends. During his stay in Arezzo his abode was in the “Casa Vasari,” where I was then a little child of eight years old, and I remember that the good old man, who was exceedingly courteous and agreeable, having heard from the master who was teaching me my first lessons, that I attended to nothing in school but drawing figures, turned round to Antonio, my father, and said to him, “Antonio, let little George (Georgino) by all means learn to draw, that he may not degenerate, for even though he should hereafter devote himself to learning, yet the knowledge of design, if not profitable, cannot fail to be honourable and advantageous.” Then turning to me, who was standing immediately before him, he said, “Study well, little kinsman.” He said many other things respecting me, which I refrain from repeating, because I know that I have been far from justifying the opinion which that good old man had of me. Being told that I suffered, as was the case at that age, so severely from bleeding at the nose, as sometimes to be left fainting and half dead thereby, he bound a jasper round my neck with his own hand, and with infinite tenderness: this recollection of Luca will never depart while I live.^[27] Having placed his picture in its destined position, Luca returned to Cortona, being accompanied to a considerable distance on his road by many of the citizens, as well as by his friends and relations, and this was an honour well merited by the excellences and endowments of this master, who always lived rather in the manner of a noble and a gentleman than in that of a painter.

About the same time Silvio Passerini, Cardinal of Cortona, had built a palace about half a mile distant from the city, after the design of the painter, Benedetto Caporali of Perugia, who took great delight in architecture, and had written a commentary on Vitruvius but a short time before.^[28] This palace the cardinal determined to have amply decorated with paintings, wherefore Benedetto^[29] set himself to work, and being assisted by Maso Papacello, of Cortona, who was his disciple, and had studied under Giulio Romano likewise, as will be related hereafter; and by Tommaso,^[30] as well as other disciples and workmen, he did not cease until he had painted almost the whole of the building in fresco. But the Cardinal desired to have a picture from the hand of Luca also, whereupon the latter, although very old and afflicted with palsy, depicted the Baptism of Christ by St. John, in fresco, on the wall of the palace chapel, on that side namely whereon the altar stands; but he could not entirely finish it, seeing that while still working at this picture he died, having attained the eighty-second year of his age.

Luca Signorelli was a man of the most upright life, sincere in all things, affectionate to his friends, mild and amiable in his dealings with all, most especially courteous to every one who desired his works, and very efficient as well as kind in the instruction of his disciples.^[31] He lived very splendidly, took much pleasure in clothing himself in handsome vestments,^[32] and was always held in the highest esteem for his many good qualities, both in his own country and in others.

And now, with the close of this master's life, which took place in 1521, we will bring this second part of our work to an end, terminating with Luca, as the master who, in the fundamental principles of design, more especially in the nude form, and by the grace of his inventions, as well as the disposition of the events he depicted, laid open to all succeeding artists the path to the ultimate perfection of art, that })erfection, to the highest summit of which those who followed him, and of whom we are henceibrward to speak, were afterwards enabled to attain.^[33]

1. Luca Signorelli was the son of Egidio di Ventura Signorelli and of the sister of Lazzaro Vasari.— Bottari.
2. In the life of Lazzaro Vasari.
3. The paintings of the chapel of Santa Barbara are destroyed, as are also the banners for bearing in procession.—Bottari.
4. It was taken from the church and placed in the convent, but on the suppression of the latter it was removed; the place to which it was taken cannot now be ascertained. —Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
5. This fresco has perished.— Ibid.
6. The learned Legist, Francesco Accolti who died at Siena in 1488.
7. This work also has been lost in the mutations of the building. The predella had disappeared as early as 1771.
8. Still in the cathedral, on the altar of the Oratory of Sant’ Onofrio.— Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
9. This work is still to be seen at the former “Confraternity of the Holy Name of Jesus,”—Ibid.
10. This work is no longer in the church of St. Agostino, but there is an Annunciation by this master in the cathedral; in the monastery of Sant’ Andrea, without the Selci Gate, there is a Crucifixion, also by his hand.— Ed. Flor., 1832 -8.
11. This picture was carried off during the French invasion, nor can its present locality be ascertained.—Ibid.
12. The St. Sebastian is still in the Brozzi chapel, now called that of Bourbon del Monte. Other works of the master are also still at Cittâ di Castello.— See Mariotti, Lettere Perugine, &c., p. 274.
13. Now in the choir of the cathedral, it bears the following inscription:— “Lucas Egidii Signorelli Cortonensis, mdii.”
14. There are now but two of these pictures in the church of Gesii. The Nativity of Christ, and a conception of the Virgin: the Communion of the Apostles is in the choir of the cathedral. Lanzi also considers the last-mentioned painting one of the best works of the master.— See History of Painting, vol. i. p. 91.
15. This picture is no longer to be seen in Sant’ Agostino. Other works of this master are described by Della Valle (in a note to the Sienese edition of Vasari) as painted by Luca Signorelli, in the Palace of Pandolfo Petrucci, lord of Siena, but all have unhappily perished. They are alluded to by Vasari himself in the life of Genga, which follows.— See also the Lettere Sanese of Della Valle.
16. Of this picture no authentic information can be obtained.
17. Now in the Florentine Gallery.
18. Also in the Florentine Gallery, and near that just mentioned (in the eastern corridor namely).
19. For details respecting the frescoes of Chiusuri, which consist of thirty pictures, see Rumohr, Ital. Forsch., vol. ii. p. 387. Nine only of these paintings are by Signorelli.
20. In the small room of the Tuscan school in the Florentine Gallery, there is a predella by Signorelli, which came from the church of Santa Lucia in Montepulciano, three separate scenes are represented thereon, the figures being small; an Annunciation namely, an Adoration of the Shepherds, and the Offering of the Magi.
21. For details respecting this work, see Della Valle, Storia del Duomo d'Orvieto, Rome, 1791.
22. According to Manni, whose opinion is supported by Bottari, this is the portrait of the Marchese di Sant’ Angiolo and Duke of Cravina, a renowned captain of those times.—Ed. Flor., 1832-8.
23. Vasari has previously described these works as commencea by Piero della Francesca and Domenico Veniziano, and finished only by Luca Signorelli. — Ibid,
24. The work is no longer visible, the ceiling was painted at a later period by Pomcrancio.—Ludwig Sehorn.
25. The events here described are both in one picture. For a further description of this, as well as of another omitted, by Vasari, and representini? earlier events in the journeying of Moses towards the promised Land, see Plainer and Bunsen, Beschreibung der Stadt Rom.
26. This picture had suffered restoration when the Florentine edition of Vasari of 1772 appeared, but was at that time still to be seen over the high altar of Santa Marghereta.— German Translation of Vasari.
27. Bottari expresses surprise that Vasari has not mentioned a son of Luca Signorelli, who devoted himself to painting, but did not obtain high fame. He had a brother also, named Ventura, who was the father of Francesco Signorelli, of whom there is a short notice in Lanzi, who alludes in terms of commendation to a picture by his hand, painted for the Council-House of Cortona in 1520. —See History, &c., vol. i. p. 1G9.
28. Cardinal Passerini died in 1529, and the translation of Vitruvius by Caporali did not appear till 1536, but Vasari may have known that the work existed in MS. at the time he names.—Ed. Flor., 1832 -8.
29. The name of this artist was not Benedetto, but Gio. Battista.— Ibid.
30. Tommaso Bernabei. —Bottari.
31. The most distinguished of these were, the above-named Tommaso d’ Arcangelo Bernabei of Cortona, by whom there is a mural painting in the Academia Etrusca of that city; and Turpino Zaccagna, also of Cortona, one of whose works is still there, in the church of St. Angelo di Candalena namely.
32. In the first edition of Vasari rve have, “he lived splendidly, and always dressed in silk.”
33. In the Imperial and Royal Gallery of Vienna there is a Nativity of Christ by Luca Signorelli, with another in two compartments in that of Berlin. There is also a Pieta by this master in the Spada Palace in Rome. —L. Schorn.