03 — ARTWORK
Empedocles
- MEDIUM
- Fresco, width 190 cm
- TYPE
- Portrait
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 800 × 1019 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
The picture shows the wainscoting to the right of the entry. In the tondoA circular painting or relief sculpture. The tondo derives from classical medallions and was used in the Renaissance as a compositional device for creating an ideal visual harmony. It was particularly popular in Florence and was often used for depictions of the Madonna and Child. a young man wearing turban, identified as Empedocles, a Greek philosopher (c. 490-430 BC), leans out of the window to watch the Apocalypsethe Revelation of St John, the last book of the New Testament. The wrath of God descending upon the earth is depicted in three visions; in the form of terrible natural catastrophes, in the battle between the forces and good and evil, and in the union of a new Heaven and new Earth in the Heavenly Jerusalem. The announcement of the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world was intended to console the persecuted Christians and also prepare them for the horrors connected with the event.. On a small tablet set in among the grotesques, the painter's initials "LS" can be seen.
If we look carefully at the anthropomorphic decorations, crowded with naked bodies in an incredible variety of poses, or the convulsive violence (that Scarpellini has compared to action painting) that runs through some of the foliage patterns or the groups of tritons and naiads like an electric current, we can really begin to understand Signorelli's great ability as a draughtsman, a talent that is further confirmed by his drawing production.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-rc9d547e28a2f52,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Empedocles by SIGNORELLI, Luca},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-07},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/signorelli-luca-r927364050b0622/empedocles-rc9d547e28a2f52},
urldate = {2026-09-07},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-07. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
