(b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze)

Annunciation 1486-90 Fresco Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

At the height of the Presentation of the Virgin and the Marriage of Mary - above the corner of the chapel and connecting with the rear wall next to the Gothic window - there is the narrow fresco the Annunciation.

Again Ghirlandaio has moved the scene of this biblical event to Tuscany and his own era. He was able to find the traditional Renaissance form of a painted window with a view of a landscape in many Florentine palaces. They can still be seen today in Florence, examples being the palaces of the Medici, Ruccelai and Strozzi families. The angel is derived from the <A onclick="return OpenOther('/html/l/leonardo/01/2annunc.html')" HREF="/html/l/leonardo/01/2annunc.html">Annunciation</A> painted by the young Leonardo da Vinci between 1472 and 1475, now on view in the Galleria degli Uffizi.

In contrast to Leonardo's horizontal format, in Ghirlandaio's fresco in the predetermined vertical format his Virgin may be depicted facing the observer in an equally frontal view, but she is standing upright. She is therefore reminiscent of the <A onclick="return OpenOther('/html/l/lorenzo/credi/annunci.html')" HREF="/html/l/lorenzo/credi/annunci.html">beautiful picture on the same theme</A> by Lorenzo di Credi, an artist who was also taught by Verrocchio together with Leonardo and Ghirlandaio.

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Author: GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico Title: Annunciation Time-line: 1451-1500 School: Italian Form: painting