Pala di Sant'Onofrio

Signorelli signed and dated this altarpiece in 1484, for the cathedral of Perugia. The man who paid for it was the city's bishop, Jacopo Vagnucci, who came from Cortona, the same small Tuscan town where Signorelli was born. That local tie likely helped a still-rising painter win a prominent commission. The picture is a sacred conversation. The Virgin sits enthroned with the Christ child, who holds a white lily, while saints gather around, John the Baptist and Lawrence behind and, standing in front, Onuphrius, the wild-haired desert hermit whose name the altar carries, beside Herculanus. Those last two were the protector saints of Perugia. Over the throne Signorelli hung a carved festoon of vegetables rather than the usual flowers, a plain, earthy detail in an otherwise stately scene.