Sant'Onofrio Altarpiece

The Virgin and Child sit enthroned on a tall, Classically inspired seat at the centre of this Holy Conversation, painted in 1484 by Luca Signorelli. The large panel was made for a church and commissioned by Bishop Jacopo Vagnucci, a native of Cortona, the painter's own birthplace. Mary reads a book, while the Child holds a white lily, a sign of her purity and virginity. At the foot of the throne stand Saint John the Baptist and Saint Lawrence, with two angels hovering above. On the marble step below, a seated angel plays a lute, a touch that may nod to Venetian painting, such as Antonello da Messina's San Cassiano Altarpiece. The angel closely resembles one Signorelli had painted at Loreto a few years earlier. In the foreground, Saints Onuphrius and Herculanus, the patrons of Perugia, stand on the pavement. The style gathers echoes of Ercole de' Roberti, Donatello, Filippo Lippi and Piero della Francesca into a firm, sculptural composition.

Painter

Luca Signorelli

Date

1484

Medium

panel

Dimensions

221 × 189 cm

Museum

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Genre

religious art

Depicts

boy, Mary, woman, mother, Christ Child

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