Luca Signorelli worked from the 1470s until his death in 1523. His long and prolific career took him to much of central Italy. He came from Cortona, a town perched on a Tuscan hillside, and likely trained mainly in Perugia. Giorgio Vasari tells us that Piero della Francesca was Signorelli’s teacher.
By the 1490s, Signorelli was running a successful workshop. He won major commissions in Arezzo, Florence, Siena and Rome. He painted many fresco cycles, including the famous Last Judgement (Cathedral, Orvieto). He also contributed a now-lost section to the decoration of the Sistine Chapel, Rome. His Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (Pinacoteca Comunale, Città di Castello) inspired the young Raphael, who made several sketches based on it.
