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Orvieto

Ceiling depicting Christ the Judge, Orvieto Cathedral.

Ceiling depicting Christ the Judge, Orvieto Cathedral.

In 1447, through intercession of Pope Eugene IV, Angelico and Benozzo (now his junior partner), together with other co-workers, were engaged to decorate the San Brizio Chapel in Orvieto Cathedral. During this period, only the painting of two of the vault webs was completed, while the other two webs were left unfinished. Benozzo offered to complete the work on a second occasion, but the negotiations did not reach a successful conclusion and the frescoes were not finished until fifty years later, by Luca Signorelli. It may have been due to this opposition that the painter decided to accept commissions from the Dominicans of Narni and Foligno, namely a panel painting depicting the Annunciation (Narni, Town Hall) and the fresco fragment featuring the Announcing Angel housed in the Trinci Palace and originating from the destroyed St. Dominic’s Chapel in Foligno.