The altar-piece, which is entirely isolated, Domenico painted in tempera, as he did the other figures in the six pictures. Among these is Our Lady enthroned in the air with the Child in her arms, and with numerous saints around her, San Lorenzo, and San Stefano, namely, who are full of life, with San Vincenzio, and San Pietro, to whom there wants nothing but speech. It is true that a portion of this work remained incomplete on account of Domenico’s death; but as he had made considerable progress in it, the only part unfinished being certain figures in the back-ground of the Resurrection of Christ, with three more in other places, the whole was afterwards finished by his brothers Benedetto and David Ghirlandajo.[1]
This chapel was considered to be an extremely fine work, majestic and beautiful, charming by the vivacity of the colouring, and admirable as mural painting for the facility of the treatment, and because it received but very few touches a secco, to say nothing of the invention and composition. The master, without doubt, deserves infinite commendation on all accounts, but most of all for the animation of the heads, which, being portrayed from nature, present to all who see them the most lively similitudes of many distinguished persons.
For the same Giovanni Tomabuoni, Domenico painted a chapel at his villa of the Casso Maccherelli, situate at no great distance from the city, on the river Terzolle, but which has since been destroyed by the encroachments of the torrent; yet the paintings, although for many years uncovered, continually exposed to rain, and burnt by the sun, have maintained their freshness to such a degree, that one might believe they had been covered all the time—such are the efiects of a judicious and careful execution in fresco, and of refraining from retouching the work when dry (a
- ↑ Who were assisted by Domenico’s disciple, Francesco Granacci, whose life follows. In the year 1801, a new altar was erected, the pictures then became the property of the Mediei-Tomaquinci family, and some of them came into the possession of the King of Bavaria, while others were obtained by the King of Prussia. See Rumohrand Waagen. In 1809, two figures of Saints from these works were sold to Lucien Buonaparte. On the predella of the altar-piece also, there were numerous stories, the figures of which were small, but of this portion the fate is not known.
