Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494) was the finest fresco painter in late 15th-century Florence. Born Domenico di Tommaso Bigordi, he got his nickname from his father, who created the metallic garland-like headdresses fashionable among Florentine women. He trained under Alesso Baldovinetti and ran a large workshop with his brothers Davide and Benedetto.
Ghirlandaio excelled at weaving contemporary portraits into religious narratives. His early commission for the Chapel of Santa Fina in San Gimignano (1477–78) established his reputation. In 1481, Pope Sixtus IV summoned him to Rome to paint the Calling of the Apostles in the Sistine Chapel. His greatest work came between 1485 and 1490: the frescoes in Santa Maria Novella depicting scenes from the lives of the Virgin and John the Baptist, commissioned by banker Giovanni Tornabuoni.
These frescoes are essentially portraits of Renaissance Florence disguised as sacred history, filled with recognizable faces in contemporary dress. Among his workshop assistants was a thirteen-year-old Michelangelo, whose contract from 1487 still survives. Ghirlandaio died of "pestilential fever" in January 1494, just forty-four years old, and was buried in Santa Maria Novella. His frescoes remain there today, alongside major works in the Uffizi Gallery.
2 paintings catalogued with museum locations
2 museums display Ghirlandaio's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
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