Frescoes on the Vault and Decoration
by Luca SIGNORELLI

Borrowing a decoration programme that had already been used in 1494 by Pinturicchio in the Borgia Apartment in Rome, Signorelli decided to decorate the area below his frescoes with grotesque ornamental motifs, busts of philosophers and poets, as well as monochromes illustrating their work. It is possible that the busts of philosophers and poets are intended as symbols of reason and moral values, the only instruments that man can use to keep in check the powerful animal instincts of his nature and to attain the higher spheres of the spirit.

But one thing is certain: this apparently minor section, which was painted to a large extent by Signorelli's assistants, contains fascinating inventions and reaches extraordinary heights of expression. The artist gives free rein to his imagination in these grotesques, and the result is comparable only to the scenes that Filippino Lippi was painting at about the same time in the Strozzi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Dante Alighieri
1499-1502
Fresco, width 432 cm
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

800*1026
True Color
210 Kb



Statius
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

800*1033
True Color
217 Kb



Empedocles
1499-1502
Fresco, width 190 cm
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

800*1019
True Color
199 Kb



Claudian
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

903*900
True Color
181 Kb



Ovid
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

1000*1071
True Color
219 Kb



Sallust
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

1031*1000
True Color
206 Kb



Tibullus
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

1000*1043
True Color
209 Kb



Decoration (detail)
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

800*1034
True Color
191 Kb



Dante and Virgil Entering Purgatory
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

897*721
True Color
165 Kb



The Angel Arrives in Purgatory
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

953*670
True Color
156 Kb



Fresco fragment
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

1005*1000
True Color
170 Kb



Ceiling Frescoes in the Chapel of San Brizio
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

800*1025
True Color
251 Kb



Choir of Patriarchs
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

900*1110
True Color
225 Kb



Doctors of the Church
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

750*870
True Color
185 Kb



The Virgins
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

938*652
True Color
175 Kb



Cappellina dei Corpi Santi
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

900*1098
True Color
210 Kb



Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Sts Faustinus and Parentius
1499-1502
Fresco
Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

1200*854
True Color
183 Kb




Frescoes in the Chapel of San Brizio, Orvieto
Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist; Apocalypse
Resurrection of the Flesh
The Damned and The Elect
The Elect Being Called to Paradise and The Damned Being Plunged into Hell
Frescoes on the Vault and Decoration
Back to San Brizio frescoes