DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51584#0147
GHIRLANDAJO.
143
bier is an old bishop chanting- the litanies, with
spectacles on his nose, which is the earliest known
representation of these implements, then recently
invented. On one side of the picture is the kneel-
ing figure of Francesco Sassetti, and on the other
Madonna Nera, his wife. All these histories of
St. Francis are engraved in Lasinio’s 1 Early
Florentine Masters,’ as are also the magnificent
frescoes in the choir of Santa Maria Novella, his
greatest work. This he undertook for a generous
and public-spirited citizen of Florence, Giovanni
Tornabuoni, who agreed to repair the choir at his
own cost, and, moreover, to pay Ghirlandajo one
thousand two hundred gold ducats for painting the
walls in fresco, and to add two hundred more if he
were well satisfied with the performance.
Ghirlandajo devoted four years to his task. He
painted on the right-hand wall the history of St.
John the Baptist; and, on the left, various inci-
dents from the life of the Virgin. One of the
most beautiful represents the Birth of the Virgin :
female attendants, charming graceful figures, are
aiding the mother or intent on the new-born
child; while a lady, in the elegant costume of the
Florentine ladies of that time, and holding a hand-
kerchief in her hand, is seen advancing, as if to
pay her visit of congratulation. This is the por-
trait of Ginevra de’ Benci, one of the loveliest
women of the time. He has introduced her again
143
bier is an old bishop chanting- the litanies, with
spectacles on his nose, which is the earliest known
representation of these implements, then recently
invented. On one side of the picture is the kneel-
ing figure of Francesco Sassetti, and on the other
Madonna Nera, his wife. All these histories of
St. Francis are engraved in Lasinio’s 1 Early
Florentine Masters,’ as are also the magnificent
frescoes in the choir of Santa Maria Novella, his
greatest work. This he undertook for a generous
and public-spirited citizen of Florence, Giovanni
Tornabuoni, who agreed to repair the choir at his
own cost, and, moreover, to pay Ghirlandajo one
thousand two hundred gold ducats for painting the
walls in fresco, and to add two hundred more if he
were well satisfied with the performance.
Ghirlandajo devoted four years to his task. He
painted on the right-hand wall the history of St.
John the Baptist; and, on the left, various inci-
dents from the life of the Virgin. One of the
most beautiful represents the Birth of the Virgin :
female attendants, charming graceful figures, are
aiding the mother or intent on the new-born
child; while a lady, in the elegant costume of the
Florentine ladies of that time, and holding a hand-
kerchief in her hand, is seen advancing, as if to
pay her visit of congratulation. This is the por-
trait of Ginevra de’ Benci, one of the loveliest
women of the time. He has introduced her again