There is abundant artistic evidence of Luca Signorelli’s long and prolific activity in the upper Tiber Valley. Signorelli certainly worked in Citerna, in the church of San Francesco, where, with extensive contributions from the workshop, he painted a niche with the fresco depicting the Virgin and Child between Saints Michael the Archangel and Francis.

The artist had a very intense relationship with Città di Castello. The activity was mainly due to his close ties with the powerful Vitelli family, lords of the city. For his work making a gonfalon for the local confraternity of Santa Maria (a lost work), the talented painter was made an honorary citizen in 1488

The Pinacoteca Comunale in Città di Castello houses a fresco that is traditionally considered one of the painter’s earliest works. It is a Majesty among Saints, dated 1474, once on the facade of the bishop’s tower, of which a few fragments remain today, including the half-bust with St. Paul. Also inside the Pinacoteca is the beautiful Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, made in 1498 for the Brozzi Chapel in the church of San Domenico. Some Signorellian solutions in the panel would have a strong influence on the artists of the time, including the young Raphael, who would come to the city a few years later and copy the painting several times.

The municipal collections hold two other works: the processional banner with the Baptism of Christ and St. John the Baptist, made with the collaboration of the workshop, for the local Confraternity of San Giovanni Decollato and referable to the late activity of the painter, and the Altarpiece of St. Cecilia from the Franciscan monastery of the same name in Città di Castello.

In the upper Tiber Valley, the painter made further stops in Morra and Umbertide, key destinations on a Signorelli itinerary in Umbria. In the hamlet of Morra, a village along the way from the upper Tiber Valley and Cortona, Signorelli created, around 1507, a cycle of frescoes inspired by the theme of the Passion of Christ, Our Lady of Mercy and Our Lady of Loreto in the small oratory of San Crescentino. Undoubtedly the most interesting fresco here is the dramatic depiction of the Flagellation of Christ, depicting the moment of his being tied to the column. Surrounding the figure of Jesus are the soldiers, almost naked, whose posture is reminiscent of the dancing satyrs that often adorn Roman bas-reliefs, in contrast to the attitude of total resignation assumed by Christ.

In 1516 Signorelli arrived in Umbertide, where in the church of Santa Croce, now home to the Museo di Santa Croce, he executed the moving Deposition, which exceptionally still has its original predella and cornice.

One of Signorelli’s precious works is housed in the Museo del Capitolo of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo. The St. Onofrio Altarpiece of 1484 depicts the Madonna and Child Enthroned among Saints. The work was created by a still young but already established and completely independent Signorelli, in a clearly recognizable style. Originally placed in the St. Onofrio chapel within the cathedral of San Lorenzo, the panel was commissioned by Jacopo Vagnucci, bishop of Perugia in the 15th century and a prestigious figure in Perugia’s political, social and cultural scene.

The National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia holds another work by the celebrated Tuscan painter and his workshop: the Paciano Altarpiece made in 1517 with the Madonna and Child among Saints and Angels. It comes from the Convent of St. Anthony of Padua in Paciano and was commissioned from the painter by the Franciscan community of the Minor Observants. The Franciscan commission is evidenced by the presence in the altarpiece of Saints Francis and Anthony of Padua; the figure of St. Lawrence hints at the link with Perugia; St. Michael is titular of the collegiate church in nearby Panicale; and a small church at the foot of the village is dedicated to Saints Sebastian and Rocco. The lake landscape in the background is that of Lake Trasimeno, which is actually visible from the friars’ convent. The predella depicting the castle of Paciano is well preserved.

The pictorial decoration Signorelli executed in Orvieto Cathedral places him among the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance. The artist was called to Orvieto in 1449 to decorate the Cappella Nova later called the Chapel of San Brizio, sublimely articulating a well-known theme, the Last Judgment.

The pictorial cycle is distributed over three registers: on the vaults of the two bays Signorelli completes the decoration begun by Beato Angelico and soon abandoned by him. The lower register depicts the scenes of the Last Judgment: the Inferno, the Preaching and the facts of the Antichrist, the end of the world, the Resurrection of the flesh, and the Paradise distributed along the walls. From a corner of the wall narrating the Facts of the Antichrist two figures dressed in black, traditionally identified as Beato Angelico and Luca Signorelli, observe the scenes. In the lower register, Signorelli composes a veritable iconographic cycle dedicated to Illustrious Men whose portraits are surrounded by small grisaille scenes illustrating excerpts from their works.

Signorelli’s masterpiece was seen by such greats as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who made a stop in Orvieto to visit the Cappella Nova while admiring the anatomy of the nudes painted by Signorelli.

A curiosity: Freud also stopped to admire Signorelli's masterpiece in Orvieto. A visit that inspired him to study the psychic mechanism of forgetfulness. We recommend reading it. Lo you will find it in the first short chapter of the essay 'Psychology of Everyday Life'.

Visitors to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo can admire the panel painting of St. Mary Magdalene painted by the Master in 1504.