Communion of the Apostles (Signorelli)

The Communion of the Apostles is an oil on panel painted by Luca Signorelli around 1512, late in his career. It is now kept in the Diocesan Museum of Cortona. The subject, Christ distributing communion to his disciples, was rather unusual in Italian painting of the period, and Signorelli is thought to have drawn on the Corpus Domini altarpiece by Justus van Gent, which he had seen during his time in Urbino. The composition is built in a pyramidal arrangement: Christ stands at the centre, holding a dish of hosts that he hands to the apostles, all dressed in luminous garments. The background, in an older style, recalls the work of Perugino. A striking detail is Judas Iscariot, turned toward the viewer while he hides the coin of his betrayal in his purse, a gesture that adds a quiet tension to the sacramental scene. The altarpiece was probably accompanied by a predella, and three of its panels have been identified, although their link to the main work remains a hypothesis.

Painter

Luca Signorelli

Date

1512

Medium

oil paint, panel

Dimensions

232 × 220 cm

Museum

Diocesan Museum in Cortona, Cortona

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Communion of the Apostles, Jesus Christ, man

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