Luca Signorelli was one of the most forceful draftsmen of the late fifteenth century. Between 1499 and 1504, he was engaged in his most important work, the frescoes in the chapel of San Brizio in the cathedral at Orvieto, where his talent in both areas was given the fullest scope. The Madonna and Child seen here appears to date from the same period, around 1505, although it is a subject with which Signorelli had been working for a number of years. The background of classical decoration and putti in athletic poses is similar to that of the frescoes at Orvieto. In the upper corners of the work Signorelli has placed portrait heads, copied from Roman coins which serve as a brilliant foil for the simply defined forms of the Madonna and Child.


 





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