Domenico Ghirlandaio

Birth of St John the Baptist
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
1486-90 Fresco Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence The Birth of St John the Baptist and the Zacharias Writes Down the Name of his Son can be found on the second level of the right wall. The scene is described by Vasari. "... the birth of St John, with a beautiful idea that, while Elisabeth is in bed and being visited by her neighbours and a nurse is suckling the child, a woman is eagerly calling the attention of the visitors to the wonder that has come to her mistress in her old age; and lastly there is a woman bringing fruit and wine from the city, in conformity with the Florentine custom. This is very fine". In the Birth of Saint John the Baptist Ghirlandaio once again created a room flooded with light and air. We can well imagine that the palace rooms of Ghirlandaio's patrons being similar to this. In this picture he makes use of contrasting complementary colours by placing the red bedspread in front of the green wall hanging. In front of the wall hanging, a maid dressed in red and green is carrying a tray with carafes of water and wine for the refreshment of the woman in childbed. The golden orange hues of the pilasters and entablatures form a complementary contrast with the light blue of aged Elizabeth and the young maid coming in from at the far right. Such colour schemes help to create the captivating clarity that characterizes so much of Ghirlandaio's work. It is not just the age of Elizabeth and her maid that contrast, but also their respective auras of stillness and movement. Nowadays it is astonishing to think that Savonarola, the severe preacher of repentance, could have taken exception to this superb maid. She corresponds to the nurse on the far left, who is stretching out her arms eagerly. The two figures form an exciting frame for the quiet scene taking place in-between. In the Birth of John the Baptist, Elizabeth is visited by female representatives of the donor family - as is Anne in the birth scene on the opposite wall. The only figure that can be identified is that of the poet Lucrezia Tornabuoni, who was known for being very virtuous. She was the mother of Lorenzo de' Medici and a friend of the humanist Agnolo Poliziano and Luigi Pulci, portrayed in the Sassetti Chapel together with her son. There is actually nothing in this scene to suggest that it is depicting an event from the story of St John - with the sole exception of the severely weather-beaten halo surrounding Elizabeth's head. In this scene from everyday life, Ghirlandaio surpassed even his beautiful Birth of Mary. In addition to the marvelous basket of fruit, he added another two still-lifes to the picture in order to make it appear more home-like and realistic. On the far left two objects, a brass jug and bowl, that we are already familiar with from the fresco the Last Supper in the church of Ognissanti, and from the frescoes in the Santa Fina Chapel. At the top of the bed's headboard, next to the window, there is a symmetrical arrangement of a box, two pomegranates and a vase, reminiscent of both Saint Jerome's study and the frescoes in the Saint Fina Chapel. All these things once again bring Flemish painting to mind, which during this period made widespread use of everyday secular details as accessories. The miniature depicting the birth of Saint John the Baptist in the Turin/Milan Book of Hours is an outstanding example - a superb work that was most probably painted by Jan van Eyck himself, though its attribution is just as disputed as its date. Author: GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico Title: Birth of St John the Baptist , 1451-1500 , Italian Form: painting , religious
Painting ID::  62404
 

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GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico

Birth of St John the Baptist
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.);
1486-90 Fresco Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence Here a beautiful unknown woman from the donor's immediate circle is looking at us. She is holding a small cloth in her hands, which are elegantly clasped in front of her stomach, and dressed in a gentle pink, a hue picked up in her cheeks. Two women wearing white head-dresses accompany her; the elder is probably the donor's sister, Lucrezia Tornabuoni, who died before the picture was painted. She was the mother of Lorenzo il Magnifico and sister of Giovanni. Artist: GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico Painting Title: Birth of St John the Baptist (detail) , 1451-1500 Painting Style: Italian , , religious
Painting ID::  63005
 

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