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Art of Loving Italy

Art of Loving Italy

Art & Beauty are all around us.

Domenico Ghirlandaio: Florentine artist, teacher to Michelangelo

March 26, 2017 by Melissa Muldoon Leave a Comment

domenico-ghirlandaio-florentine-artist-teacher-michelangeloThis post first appeared in Italian on the Studentessa Matta Blog on September 28th, 2012. You can read the article in its original Italian clicking this link

I have always liked the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, an artist of the Renaissance that worked in Florence. He was born in 1449 and died in 1494; he was only forty-five . The last time I was in Florence I admired the cycle of frescos of the life of the Virgin that Ghirlandaio created for the Tornabuoni Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Novella.

domenico-ghirlandaio-florentine-artist-teacher-michelangelo

Ghirlandaio’s compositions are at the same time large but decorous. There is a precision and an eye towards contouring his  figures that could be due to the fact that Ghirlandaio began his career as an apprentice to a jeweler. Ghirlandaio went on to become a talented painter and was also one of Michelangelo’s first teachers. Surely Michelangelo would have observed and learned from the Ghirlandaio’s techniques of his masterful rendering of weight and three-dimensional form.

domenico-ghirlandaio-florentine-artist-teacher-michelangelo

The other day I was admiring the “Portrait of an Old Man and a Youth” by Ghirlandaio. The word “ritratto” in Italian means portrait and the word “autoritratto” means “self-portrait.” In this painting we don’t know the identity of the old man or the young boy but it is a beautiful example of Renaissance portrait painting. The artist seeks to involve and draw in the spectator, creating an emotional attachment to his subjects. There is a stylistic and psychological change as to how people were portrayed as compared to the precedent eras of the early Renaissance and Medieval periods.

domenico-ghirlandaio-florentine-artist-teacher-michelangelo

Indeed the viewer has a sense that something is happening in the portrait. In fact focusing on the profile of the man and the way he gazes at the boy, the viewer is inspired to create a dialogue between the two. Ghirlandaio has not idealized the man’s profile in any way. Instead he depicts the old man with all his defects, his aged face with wrinkles and lines and his knobby nose. When I look at his nose the world “bitorzoluto” (which means knobby) comes to mind.

domenico-ghirlandaio-florentine-artist-teacher-michelangelo

We can imagine from his well worn appearance the man has great wisdom that comes from his advanced age. He is someone who has experience the good and that bad, the disappointments and the joys that life has to offer. In contrast the boy with his fair skin and golden curls, perhaps his grandson, is beautiful. He appears to be quite innocent. The boy touches the man’s chest affectionately and looks him directly in the eye as if to say, “I trust you. You are at the end of the path and I am just beginning. Give me direction. Point me in the right way.”

To reinforce this idea, in the background behind the two figures we see a window looking out into the world beyond. The landscape is hazy, but you can see a twisting road that winds into the mountains. Who knows where the road will go and where it will end?

It could be an allegory; our life is a journey and we learn along the way, never knowing where the road will take us or what we will encounter. But surely one day our beauty, youth and innocence, like that of the boy will end. Eventually our bodies become old and well used like the elderly man. But in exchange we have a deeper understanding of the world. If we are lucky, we can leave a legacy of love and impart our knowledge, at least a small part, to a new generation.

Like my character Sophia, I believe that art can talk to you if you are willing to listen. Read “Dreaming Sophia” to learn more about Italian art and what Sophia hears and sees when she visits the paintings in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. 

If you liked this post you might like these posts too:

Eleonora de’ Medici and her Fabulous Dress

Buon Compleanno Michelangelo!

Giorgio Vasari the First Art Historian

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Filed Under: Renaissance Tagged With: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Florence, Florentine Artist, Michelangelo, Portrait old man young boy, Renaissance Art

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Parliamo dei piedi oggi! It's all about the feet t Parliamo dei piedi oggi! It's all about the feet today! la parola e le espressioni di oggi... anche alcuni idiomi!

in piedi = standing
a piedi = walking by foot
punto di piedi = tiptoe

A piede libero : out of jail

Andarci coi piedi di piombo: to be cautious

Cadere in piedi: to land on one’s feet, to come out of a situation without damage

Fuori dai piedi! : clear out!

Leccapiedi: brownnose

Ragionare coi piedi: to be illogical

Su due piedi: on the spot
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La parola del giorno: scrigno = treasure chest, tr La parola del giorno: scrigno = treasure chest, trunk. 
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