Domenico Ghirlandaio and workshop, The Coronation of the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist (detail), about 1478–79. Oil paint on panel; 42 7/8 × 60 7/8 in. (108.9 × 154.6 cm). Gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1961.163
The Ghirlandaio Workshop: Tradition and Practice in Renaissance Florence
Join us for a presentation by Dr. Heidi J. Hornik, Professor of Art History, Baylor University, on Domenico Ghirlandaio who directed the leading painting workshop in fifteenth century Florence. The Coronation of the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist painting (pictured) in the Denver Art Museum's collection (a gift of the Samuel H. Kress Collection) is an important example of this highly skilled workshop’s production.
This talk will discuss the painting as well as how the Ghirlandaio workshop trained young artists in traditional techniques and successfully executed commissions for powerful religious orders and prestigious families while establishing a positive trajectory for the bottega (workshop studio) practice for several centuries. Ridolfo, Domenico’s son, continued the workshop’s impeccable reputation into the mid sixteenth century until Michele Tosini, better known as Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, led the workshop’s the late Renaissance or Mannerist style alongside Agnolo Bronzino, Giorgio Vasari, and Michelangelo Buonarotti.
Please note this event will not be recorded for distribution afterwards.
The BCET Lecture Series presents talks on American and European art from the 15th through the 19th centuries by leading scholars. Series funding is generously provided by the Berger Collection Educational Trust. Additional support is provided by the Michael and Karen Fried Community Education Fund.
