Luca Signorelli

Born approximately between 1445 and 1450 in Cortona; died there Oct. 16, 1523. Italian painter.

Signorelli studied under Piero della Francesca and was influenced by Pollaiuolo and Perugino. He worked in Cortona, Florence, Loreto (The Marches), Città di Castello (Umbria), Arezzo, Perugia, Volterra, Rome, and Orvieto. His works include frescoes in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican (1481–83) and The Education of Pan (1488–90; destroyed in 1945). Signorelli also painted frescoes in the cloister of the monastery at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Tuscany (1497), and in the Cappella di San Brizio in the cathedral of Orvieto (1499–1504). These works are noted for their severity, resolute strength, and the heroic nature of their composition. Signorelli emphasized the human form and its movements; his figures were three-dimensional in effect and had sharp outlines that in his late works acquired a certain rigidity.