Last Judgement in Orvieto

Luca Signorelli’s frescoes of ‘The Last Judgement’ in the Cappella di San Brizio in the Duomo of Orvieto is claimed by some to equal or exceed Michelangelo’s famous version of that story painted on the end wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Having now been fortunate enough to see both, I’ll pick Signorelli’s work. Although Michelangelo’s Sistine ceiling is superb, I’ve always thought his ‘Last Judgement’ to be a bit over-rated - rather grim, a writhing and a creaking air to it (even considering that a pious Pope had someone later paint decorous bits of clothing over the naughty bits of the completely naked figures of Michelangelo). Signorelli’s frescoes have more lightness, and more narrative, I think. Recently restored, they have a freshness to the eye, and an absorbing narrative. I managed a crick on my neck from staring at them. Entrancing.

Signorelli painted his version of events about 40 years before Michelangelo. Michelangelo is said to have spent three months in Orvieto considering Signorelli’s work before he embarked upon the Sistine wall, and it’s also said that the Sistine shows the influence of Luca Signorelli’s work. The historian Giorgio Vasari wrote in the 16th century:

‘...I am not surprised that Luca’s works were always highly praised by Michelangelo. or that some things he did in the chapel with his own Final Judgement were kindly and partly taken from Luca’s inventiveness; such as Angels, Demons, the order of the heavens and other things, Michelangelo imitated the steps of Luca, as anyone can see.’

Luca Signorelli (1445 - 15230 was from the town of Cortona. Stylistically, he’s remembered for his draughtsmanship, particularly of the human form, which he could render in all kinds of poses and facial expressions, including dramatic foreshortening - which was very innovative in his day. He is also said to have consulted with theologians before commencing his ‘Last Judgement’, one of the earliest examples of a painter seeking help from theologians for his composition.The contract for Signorelli's work is still on record in the archives of the Cathedral of Orvieto. He undertook on April 5, 1499 to complete the ceiling for 200 ducats, and to paint the walls for 600 ducats, along with lodging, and in every month two measures of wine and two quarters of corn.

Self portrait.

The Orvieto fresco cycle was painted between 1499 and 1504. It was begun by two other painters, Perugino and particularly Fra’Angelico - they completed some of the ceiling panels. But it's Signorelli whose style and verve dominates. He painted portraits of himself and Fra’Angelico in the lower left corner of ‘The Sermon of the Antichrist’. The story is told across the ceiling and in several great panels on the walls.

The scenes on the ceiling panels depict ‘Christ in Judgement’ surrounded by various angels and cherubs; there are panels of Prophets, Apostles, symbols of the Passion, Doctors, Martyrs, Patriarchs and Virgins. But it’s the walls that tell the story. Here are the main scenes:

'The Antichrist'

The Antichrist

(2 Thess 3-4)


The panel centres on a figure on a podium that bears a spooky resemblance to Christ himself. A devil is speaking in his ear. Around him the people are paying off prostitutes, swanking in rich clothes; a murderer is finishing off his victim. The temple in the background is swarming with black figures that look a bit like Darth Vader; in background scenes martyrs are being beheaded, priests are arguing unawares. Above, the Antichrist is depicted falling from the heavens into the world. The scene is tells a ghastly story, full of symbols, but is bright and luminous nonetheless.

'The End of the World'

The End of the World
(Luke 21, 25-26)

Here the people are terrorised by signs and portents - the darkening of the skies, turmoil in the seas and
tides, and there is great confusion amongst them. The terrorised seem to fall from the wall in Signorelli’s rendering of the scenes of panic.

'The Resurrection of the Flesh'

The Resurrection of the Flesh
(1 Corinthians 15, 52)

Here Signorelli’s enormous genius as a painter of the human figure is given completely free reign - to say nothing of his astounding imagination. In his rendering of the resurrection, the dead climb fully formed from the ground, all in the prime of youth, helping one another step up out of the earth. Angels above - themselves very muscular - call them with trumpets. There are skeletons patiently awaiting their new flesh; groups of newly resurrected looking about them in awe and chat amongst themselves. The scene is both weird and human at the same time.

'The Scene of Hell'

The Scene of Hell
(Matthew 13, 40-42)

Like many scenes of hell, including Michelangelo’s, this one writhes with bodies in agony. Signorelli
even painted his unfaithful mistress into this one, clasped forever and without hope in the arms of a ghastly devil. In the ‘bestial forces of the passions’, ‘souls drown and die.’ The devils have green and blue skin, horns, weapons and grins. The suffering humans are naked, muscular and overpowered. On the left, the fires of hell await.

'The Scene of Paradise'

The Scene of Paradise
(1 Corinthians, 2,9)

“Those things which the eye did not see, or the ear hear, which never entered the man’s heart, that is what God has reserved for those who love him.” How do you paint that? Signorelli has a starry heaven full of angels, raining flowers on the blessed below. All the angels are playing musical instruments - music is clearly part of Paradise. But the strongest element in giving a sense of the wonder and joy of it all has to be the expressions on the upturned faces of the blessed - all look absolutely astonished, serene and amazed, calm and entranced.


Note: since it is not possible for visitors to take photographs in the Cappella di San Brizio, the images are from various sources around the web.

Orvieto's Duomo

Duomo of Orvieto

There it is...

I could apologise for including in this post so many photos of the facade of the Duomo in Orvieto (an Umbrian town), but I think it's justified. That moment when it bursts upon you as you walk through the narrow alley-like streets of the medieval town - magic. You're in dark shadows, you look up, and gasp when the shimmer of the facade glows between the tall buildings. The Rough Guide seemed to enjoy it as much as I did:

Burckhardt described Oriveto's Duomo as "the greatest and richest polychrome monument in the world", while Pope Leo XIII called it "the Golden Lily of Italian cathedrals", adding that on the Day of Judgement it would float up to heaven carried by its own beauty. 

 Construction of the Duomo took three centuries to complete, starting in 1290 and finishing about 1607. It employed 33 architects, 152 sculptors, 68 painters and 90 mosaicists. Despite this variety of contributions, the result is harmonious and unified. The style is Romanesque segueing into Gothic, and the body of the church is built of alternating stripes of light and dark stone. The thing has to be seen to be believed. Wiki gives the full story of the construction, and describes the riotous facade:

The Gothic façade of the Orvieto Cathedral is one of the great masterpieces of the Late

Detail of a column on the facade.

Middle Ages. The three-gable design is attributed to Maitani...The most exciting and eye-catching part is its golden frontage, which is decorated by large bas-reliefs and statues with the symbols (Angel, Ox, Lion, Eagle) of the Evangelists created by Maitani and collaborators (between 1325 and 1330) standing on the cornice above the sculptured panels on the piers. In 1352 Matteo di Ugolino da Bologna added the bronze Lamb of God above the central gable and the bronze statue of Saint Michael on top of the gable of the left entrance.
The bas-reliefs on the piers depict biblical stories from the Old and New Testament. They are considered among the most famous of all 14th century sculpture. These marbles from the fourteenth and fifteenth century are the collective and anonymous work of at least three or four masters with assistance of their workshops, It is assumed that Maitani must have worked on the reliefs on the first pier from the left, as work on the reliefs began before 1310. The installation of these marbles on the piers began in 1331. 

Details of the marble relief.

Adam and Eve.

As the Rough Guide puts it, "the facade is the star turn, owing it undeniable impact to a decorative richness just the right side of overkill. It's a riot of columns, spires, bas-reliefs, sculptures, dazzling and almost overpowering use of colour, colossally emphasised doorways and hundreds of capricious details just about held together by four enormous fluted columns."

The Duomo was, it's said, built to commemorate "The Miracle of Bolsena" - Bolsena is a nearby town. The miracle occurred when a doubtful monk was re-converted when the wine he was using in the eucharist turn into the actual blood of Christ and dripped onto the corporale, the cloth underneath the chalice on the altar. This Holy Corporale is still on display inside the Duomo in the Cappella del Corporale, a chapel covered in frescoes by Ungolino di Prete.

Ungolino also painted the frescoes in the apse, many of which were restored by Pinturicchio. In an anecdote that makes these medieval painters more than just names and paintings, the Rough Guide repeats the story that Pinturicchio was eventually kicked off the job for "consuming too  much gold, too much azure and too much wine." 

Light and dark stripes.

Attracting the crowds.

The alternating stripes of black and white marble show in the interior of the Duomo also. It is often compared to the cathedrals in Sienna, Pisa and Florence, which use similar stripes - it's generally conceded that Orvieto's Duomo exceeds them all.

But not only does the Duomo have its glorious facade and its Holy Corporale, it also has, in a chapel on the right of the apse, a fresco cycle of 'The Last Judgement' by Luca Signorelli, said to rival that of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. I agree. That's why Signor Signorelli's masterpiece is going to get a blog post all of its own. Watch this space.

The Umbrian Countryside

Orvieto Classico on the vine.

Umbria, the only province of Italy without a sea coast, is a prime attraction for travellers looking for the countryside of Italy. Along with its neighbouring province of Tuscany, it's the go-to area for hiring a casa di campana and spending a week eating and drinking well, with a few exquisite treasures of art or history thrown in.

Locando Palazzone

If this is your goal, there are many choices, but you wouldn't go wrong if you chose a small agritourismo ten minutes outside of Orvieto, Locando Palazzone. Check out their website and swoon.
No, it's not one of those places where you cook your own pasta -- you'll be served delicious light food al fresco under the moonlight, with Orvieto visible in the distance, perched on its high flat-topped mesa. You can even make out the towers of the facade of the divine Duomo from here.




The Palazzone is contemporary and sensitive refurb of an ancient building, for many past years a farm house. Around you are the vineyards of the property, and the famous white 'Orvieto Classico' is made on site and makes delicious drinking on a warm night under the moon.

The view from the Locando.

Local produce: 'Orveito Classico'

Dining al fresco in Umbria.

Orvieto has been settled since Etruscan times. Perched high as it is, it's an obvious defensive site. As Wiki says:

The site of the city is among the most dramatic in Europe, rising above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone called Tufa.

Fortunately, there's nothing you need to be defended from these days, unless it's an inability to leave the place. This could become addictive.

Orvieto in silhouette.

Spotting Spoleto

Spoleto's impressive Duomo.

Lucrezia Borgia (maybe)
Portrait of a Woman byBartolomeo Veneto,
 traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia.
(source)

Umbria: another day, another hill town. But this one - Spoleto - has a curious history - in 1499, the notorious Pope Alexander VI, the Borgia Pope, appointed his 19 year old daughter Lucrezia governor of the town. She acted in this capacity, apparently quite well, until 1502. Perhaps she lived in The Rocca, the castle on the hill, and reached it via the tall Ponte delle Torri, a bridge-cum-aquaduct...

In any event, whatever it was like in Lucrezia’s day, Spoleto is a charming town these days. Lots of narrow medieval streets, well preserved, the odd few Roman left overs (there’s an Arco di Druso that’s quite well-preserved). You can buy Umbrian wool and ceramics, and chic modern art pieces; or stop in cute trattorias or bars. You could, at the right time of the year, linger for Spoleto’s famous Summer Festival.

The Duomo facade - 13th century.

But very soon, rounding a corner, you’ll come upon the glorious facade of Spoleto’s Duomo. Your approach will be along the cobblestones at the top of a hill, and you’ll look down upon the facade and its piazza, the mosaics gleaming in the sunlight. Behind it, the sky and countryside roll away -- an unusual combination of town and country in the one view. I suggest you pause at the chi-chi bar at the bottom of the broad steps, to enjoy a café or aperitivo at your leisure, and absorb the sight of the facade. It’s from the 13th century, with a portico added in 1491. 

Inside, you can admire a wonderful old Cosmati marble floor, the original; and some faded but delicate frescoes in the Erioli chapels. The ‘Madonna and Child’ by Pinturicchio (1497) should entrance for at least a few minutes.

Detail from ‘Madonna and Child’ by Pinturicchio (1497)  

Detail from ‘Madonna and Child’ by Pinturicchio (1497) 

The apse frescoes - Lippi

But in the apse you’ll find the masterpieces of Spoleto’s Duomo - the impressive frescoes by Fra’ Filippo Lippi, painted around 1469. Anything by Lippi is given pride of place in a modern museum (his ‘Madonna and Child’ is a treasure of the National Gallery of Art on Washington DC, to name but one example). But here before you, the walls of the apse are emblazoned with his large scale work - the central ‘Coronation of the Virgin’ is the star turn, but I rather like the 'Annunciation' - the angel's see-through wings, the virgin sitting in a 15th century palace...

Lippi's 'Annunciation'

Actually, my Rough Guide informs me that Lippi died soon after he finished these frescoes:

...the rumour being that he had been poisoned for seducing the daughter of a local noble family, his position as a monk having had no bearing on his sexual appetite. The Spoletans, not too perturbed by moral laxity, were delighted at having someone famous to put in their cathedral, being, as Vasari put it, “poorly provided with ornaments, above all with distinguished men”, and so refused to send the dead artist back to Lorenzo de’Medici, his Florentine patron.

Lippi was interred in a tomb in Spoleto's Duomo designed by his son, Filippino Lippi, which you can now see in the right transept of the Duomo. Rumour has it that the corpse disappeared during restoration two centuries later...

Spoleto Duomo - Apse.

Wiki  tells us of Lippi:

That floor's seen a lot...

Filippo Lippi died in 1469 while working on the frescoes of Scenes of the Life of the Virgin Mary, 1467–1469 in the apse of the Spoleto Cathedral. The Frescos show the Annunciation, the Funeral, the Adoration of the Child and the Coronation of the Virgin. A group of bystanders depicted at the funeral includes a self-portrait of Lippi, together with his son Filippino and his helpers, Fra Diamante and Pier Matteo d'Amelia. Lippi was buried on the right side of the transept, with a monument commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici and executed by his son Filippino and others. He had always been zealously patronized by the Medici family, beginning with Cosimo de' Medici.Francesco di Pesello (called Pesellino) and Sandro Botticelli were among his most distinguished pupils.

Fra. Filippo Lippi (probably).

Further investigation reveals that in addition to painting medieval masterpieces, Lippi led an adventurous life, including marrying a nun. You can read about it here. Robert Browning wrote a poem about him in 1863, which begins...

I am poor brother Lippo, by your leave!
You need not clap your torches to my face.
Zooks, what's to blame? you think you see a monk!
What, 'tis past midnight, and you go the rounds,
And here you catch me at an alley's end
Where sportive ladies leave their doors ajar?....
 

San Francesco's letter.

Oh, and while you're in the Spoleto Duomo, don't forget to pop in to the side chapel where you'll find displayed a letter written and signed by St Francis of Assisi...



Yes, Spoleto is definitely worth a stop. Here's a photo gallery of some of the non-religious  delights of the town...

Umbrian cashmere.

Shops in funny old market stalls.

Local ceramics.

Charming narrow medieval streets.

Countryside views.

Linger a while.