Saint John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos

Domenico Ghirlandaio, one of Florence's busiest and most accomplished painters, depicted Saint John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos around 1482. Ghirlandaio ran the largest workshop in Florence during the 1480s and 1490s, training Michelangelo among his apprentices. His clear, narrative style and ability to integrate portraits of contemporary Florentines into religious scenes made him the preferred painter of the city's elite families. Ghirlandaio was the preeminent fresco painter in late fifteenth-century Florence, running a highly efficient workshop that completed major commissions for Florentine churches and the Sistine Chapel.

Tempera on panel with Ghirlandaio's characteristic clarity of drawing and bright, descriptive coloring. The island setting and visionary subject are rendered with the naturalistic detail that distinguishes his narrative approach.