 
|
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494)
Florence, c. 1485-90
Tempera on wood
44 x 32 cm
Inv. no. 282
The young woman portrayed is reminiscent of the artist’s frescoes depicting the female members of the Sassetti family in one of the chapels of Santa Trinità in Florence. She is dressed in the Florentine fashion of that time, wearing layers of tight-fitting clothes and a coral necklace to decorate the neckline.
Like Botticelli’s images of females, those by Ghirlandaio reveal an aesthetic compromise that emphasises an idealistic stylisation and the decorative harmony of the whole. This style appeared at a time when portraits were spreading among the bourgeoisie and there was a growing taste for realistic characterisation of figures, which corresponded to a general trend towards humanising art. Ghirlandaio managed to create a local atmosphere by maintaining a type of figure that did not show excessive concern for detail. This style developed from frescoes and was inherited from the previous century.
Provenance / Bibliography |
|
  |
|
