Domenico Ghirlandaio

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-94) together with his brother, Davide, supervised an extensive Florentine studio where the young Michelangelo was apprenticed for three years. He worked in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican (1481-2) with Botticelli and others. Most of his work is in Florence - the "Saint Jerome" shows strong Flemish influence and the two major cycles are those in the Sassetti chapel, Sta Trinita (completed 1485). He shared the taste of his contemporaries for the themes of ancient art, in the "Birth of the Virgin" fresco in Sta Maria Novella, Florence (completed 1491) he depicts a relief of dancing children, in the classical manner, in the background of the room which is presented as a fashionable apartment of the late 15th century.