Domenico Ghirlandaio

Domenico Ghirlandaio
Supposed self-portrait, from Adoration of the Magi, 1488
Born	1449 Florence, Italy
Died	11 January 1494(1494-01-11) (aged 45) Florence, Italy (buried in the church of Santa Maria Novella)
Nationality	Italian
Field	Painter
Movement	Italian Renaissance
Works	Paintings in: Church of Ognissanti in Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, Santa Trinita, Tornabuoni Chapel in Florence and Sistine Chapel, Rome

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 11 January 1494) was an Italian painter. He painted during the Renaissance (about 1400-1600) in Florence. He was an important painter in the time of the Renaissance. In about 1480, he became the official portrait artist for wealthy people in Florence.

Domenico had a large painting workshop. His brothers David Ghirlandaio and Benedetto Ghirlandaio and his brother-in-law Sebastiano Mainardi worked with him. His son Ridolfo Ghirlandaio also was a painter.

Michelangelo Buonarroti was his most famous apprentice. He started learning in Domenico’s workshop at age 13.

Biography

"Selfportrait", from the left, David Ghirlandaio, Bastiano or Sebastiano Mainardi and Domenico Ghirlandaio

Ghirlandaio died in 1494 of an contagious fever and was buried in Santa Maria Novella. The day and month of his birth and death are not known, but he died in early January of his forty-fifth year. He had been married two times and had six children. One of his three sons, Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, also became a noted painter in Florence.

Works

• 

  Renunciation of Worldly Goods, 1482

• 

  St John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos (detail), 1485

Other websites

• Official website, 122 works by Domenico Ghirlandaio
• ghirlandaio.it, Museums and exhibitions in Florence
• Web Gallery of Art
• Ghirlandaio in Panopticon Virtual Art Gallery
• Ghirlandaio's Cappella Sassetti Frescoes
• Where to find Ghirlandaio's works in Florence