GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico
Italian Early Renaissance Painter, 1449-1494
Florentine painter, whose family name was Bigordi. He may have studied painting and mosaics under Alesso Baldovinetti. Ghirlandaio was an excellent technician. Keenly observant of the contemporary scene, he depicted many prominent Florentine personalities within his religious narrative paintings. Among his earliest frescoes are the Madonna with the Vespucci Family and the Last Supper (Church of the Ognissanti, Florence). He painted scenes from the life of Santa Fina (collegiate church in San Gimigniano) and frescoes in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV called him to Rome, along with Botticelli, to decorate the Sistine Chapel. He painted the Calling of the First Apostles, a scene close in spirit to Masaccio. He returned to Florence to work on the frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel in Santa Trinita. He introduced Sassetti, Corsi, Poliziano, the Medici, and many other contemporaries as participants in the life of St. Francis. Ghirlandaio's most famous achievement is his fresco cycle of the life of Mary and St. John the Baptist for the choir of Santa Maria Novella. Michelangelo served an apprenticeship with him at this time and probably worked on these frescoes. Other examples of his art are the Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi); another Adoration (Hospital of the Innocents); a mosaic of the Annunciation for the Cathedral; a portrait of Francesco Sassetti and his son (Metropolitan Mus.);
ID: 62997 Coronation of the Virgin 1486 Tempera on wood Pinacoteca Comunale, Citta di Castello The Coronation in Citt?di Castello is untypical of Ghirlandaio because of its limited palette: its impact is derived primarily from the contrast of various shades of blue and red with a few yellow highlights. In contrast with the old-fashioned picture in Narni, only the female saints in the centre are kneeling; three holy men are standing on each side of them. This emphasizes the circular glory composed of airy shades of blue, giving the work a dynamic and animated character. The saints on this picture are mainly ones from the Franciscan order. On the far left stands the founder of the order, St Francis of Assisi. This altarpiece is not an autographed work, it was probably made by the workshop. Artist: GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico Painting Title: Coronation of the Virgin , 1451-1500 Painting Style: Italian , , religious
