Van Gogh •
Artist Biographies
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Domenico Ghirlandaio
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Domenico Ghirlandaio |
| Birth Year : |
1449 |
| Death Year : |
1494 |
| Country : |
Italy |
Domenico Ghirlandaio was born Domenico di Tomaso Bigordi in Florence. He acquired the name by which he is known
early in his career when he was, like his
father, a goldsmith specializing in the making of elaborate wreaths for elegant ladies. The young wreath-maker was probably trained as a painter by
Baldovinetti and perhaps also be Verrocchio whose influence like that of the great Flemish masters, may be seen in his earliest works. Ghirlandaio
painted some altarpieces and portraits although he is best known as the fresco painter who covered numerous walls in Florence, neighboring towns, and
Rome with frescoes executed for the Church and for prosperous merchants and bankers, many of whom he portrayed with great realism. To accomplish his
fresco commissions Ghirlandaio maintained a large and prosperous workshop where he employed dozens of assistants, among them his brothers Benedetto and Davide, many minor painters, and finally, toward the end of his career, his most famous apprentice,
Michelangelo. It is possible that the great genius worked on the frescoes for the Church of Santa Maria Novella with his master. Ghirlandaio's workshop also executed mosaics for which he made the designs, as he did the drawings and cartoons for his frescoes. Ghirlandaio was a narrative painter whose composition is imposing in its placement of many figures against recognizable landscapes and architectural backgrounds. A supreme realist, Ghirlandaio occasionally rose to great heights in his portraits of individuals.
US
"An artist needn't be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men."
