220 x 170 mm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence The picture shows a study to the fresco of the Birth of Mary executed in the Cappella Tornabuoni of the Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The only figure in the fresco who conveys any sense of movement is the servant pouring water into a brass basin for the child to bathe in. Ghirlandaio prepared for the painting by drawing this detailed individual study. The cloth fluttering behind her is lower in the fresco than here, in order not to obstruct our view of Anne. The sleeves were also altered at her elbows. The cross-hatching and the strong contours so typical of Ghirlandaio's style of drawing are clearly recognizable
Italian
1449-1494
Domenico Ghirlandaio Galleries
Painter, mosaicist and possibly goldsmith. He was head of one of the most active workshops in late 15th-century Florence. He developed a style of religious narrative that blended the contemporary with the historical in a way that updated the basic tenets of early Renaissance art. Domenico documented material situation
