Adoration of Shepherds by Luca Signorelli returns to Città di Castello
On Friday 27 May 2022, the reproduction of the Adoration of the Shepherds by Luca Signorelli returns to the Church of San Francesco in Città di Castello. Also present at the ceremony was Bottega Tifernate, responsible for the reproduction of the work.
The Adoration of the Shepherds is an oil painting on wood, transferred to canvas, by Luca Signorelli and assistants. The painting is dated 1496 and is today preserved in the National Gallery in London. It was originally located in the Church of San Francesco in Città di Castello when the work was sold by the friars at the beginning of the 19th century and, in 1882, it reached the London museum where it is still located today.
The work for the pictographic reproduction of the Adoration of the Shepherds, curated by Bottega Tifernate, began in November 2021. The board used is made of poplar wood with two longitudinal crossbars. The primer is a mix of Bologna plaster and rabbit glue, which allows you to fill the roughness of the board and isolate the wood. The creation of the pictographic layer occurs following a careful chromatic and aesthetic study carried out on the original work. The artists worked on painting the work by applying pigments layer by layer, using Renaissance tools and techniques. From the study of the original work it was possible to see the presence of gilding, reported on the 24 kt gold leaf reproduction. This allows the viewer to experience the same emotions that one feels in front of the original. Once completed, the work returns to the Church of San Francesco, where it was originally located.
The painting was unveiled on Friday 27 May following the interventions of the parish priest of San Francesco, the president of the Historical Churches Association Paolo Bocci, the owner of the Bottega Tifernate Stefano Lazzari, the Mayor of Città di Castello Luca Secondi and the art historian Francesca Mavilla. After discovering the painting, Monsignor Domenico Cancian, Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Città di Castello, also intervened. The event was moderated by Fabrizio Leveque, vice president of the Historic Churches Association.