Visitation
Domenico Ghirlandaio·1491
Historical Context
Domenico Ghirlandaio's Visitation, painted in 1491 and now in the Louvre, Paris, depicts the meeting between the pregnant Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. The painting was originally part of the decoration of the Tornabuoni Chapel in Santa Maria Novella, Florence—Ghirlandaio's greatest fresco commission. This panel may be a preparatory work or independent version of the scene that also appears in the fresco cycle, commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni, a Medici banker.
Technical Analysis
Ghirlandaio renders the encounter with characteristic Florentine clarity, using balanced composition, precise figure drawing, and the integration of contemporary Florentine architecture and costume into the biblical narrative.
