GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico
Biography
Ghirlandaio, Domenico (1449-94). Florentine painter.
He trained with Baldovinetti and possibly with Verrocchio. His style was
solid, prosaic, and rather old-fashioned (especially when compared with
that of his great contemporary Botticelli), but he was an excellent craftsman
and good businessman and had one of the most prosperous workshops in Florence.
This he ran in collaboration with his two younger brothers, Benedetto (1458-97)
and Davide (1452-1525). His largest undertaking was the fresco cycle in
the choir of Sta Maria Novella, Florence, illustrating Scenes from the
Lives of the Virgin and St John the Baptist (1486-90). This was commissioned
by Giovanni Tornabuoni, a partner in the Medici bank, and Ghirlandaio depicts
the sacred story as if it had taken place in the home of a wealthy Florentine
burgher. It is this talent for portraying the life and manners of his time
(he often included portraits in his religious works) that has made Ghirlandaio
popular with many visitors to Florence. But he also had considerable skill
in the management of complex compositions and a certain grandeur of conception
that sometimes hints at the High Renaissance.
Ghirlandaio worked on frescos in Pisa, San Gimignano, and Rome (in the
Sistine Chapel) as well as in Florence, and his studio produced numerous
altarpieces. He also painted portraits, the finest of which is Old Man
and his Grandson (Louvre); this depicts the grandfather's diseased features
with ruthless realism, but has a remarkable air of tenderness. Ghirlandaio's
son and pupil Ridolfo (1483-1561) was a friend of Raphael and a portrait
painter of some distinction. His most famous pupil, however, was Michelangelo.
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