This large tondo, likely created for a civic commission, represents one of the most emblematic images of early sixteenth-century Cortona. The painting brings together, around the Madonna and Child, the four patron saints of the city, invoked as protectors of its spiritual and political life: Saint Mark, Saint Michael, Saint Vincent, and Saint Margaret.
The Virgin is depicted seated upon a cloud populated by cherubs, within a celestial dimension that dominates the scene. The Child, standing on her knees, performs a gesture of blessing that directly connects to the central action of the painting: the weighing of souls. At the center, the Archangel Michael weighs the souls on a scale, while Christ intervenes in favor of the saved one, introducing a powerful narrative and theological element.
Alongside the dramatic tension of the judgment—expressed with extraordinary intensity in the monstrous and agitated figure of Satan, restrained by the archangel—a counterbalance of harmony and composure unfolds. On the opposite side, Saint Mark holds a detailed view of Cortona, recognizable through its monuments and rendered with almost cartographic precision: an image that celebrates the city and affirms its civic identity.
The other saints, Vincent and Margaret, take part in the scene as silent witnesses, set within the suspended space of the clouds. The composition is carefully orchestrated, balancing pathos and order, movement and stability, in a manner fully consistent with Renaissance sensibility.
Long attributed to Francesco Signorelli and dated to the 1520s, the painting is now generally assigned to Luca Signorelli, in a late phase of his career, around 1510–1512. During these years, the artist was deeply involved in the political life of the city, holding important public offices—an element that supports the hypothesis of a commission connected to Cortona’s civic institutions.
The work is in overall good condition, despite some losses in the Virgin’s drapery and along the panel joins. It has been restored in recent years, enhancing the legibility of one of the most significant images expressing the relationship between art, devotion, and civic identity in Renaissance Cortona.
Information
Luca Signorelli, 1510–1515
Tempera on panel
Diameter 146 cm
MAEC, Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona
