Who is giovanna tornabuoni

What's Indexed? Click to view high resolution image Title: Giovanna Tornabuoni Creator: Ghirlandaio, Domenico, painter Description: Giovanna Tornabuoni is rendered in stark profile, facing to the left. This work was created shortly after her death in childbirth. In this half-length portrait, the sitter appears in strict profile, with her arms bent and her hands clasped together.

In the background, a selection of personal belongings appears within a simple architectural frame. The cartellino to the right bears part of an epigram by Martial and the date of his death in Roman numerals. She is also portrayed full length in the Visitation fresco painted by Ghirlandaio for the Tornabuoni chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella Florence. Ghirlandaio began his career as a goldsmith.

Giovanna Tornabuoni is one of the most appealing and fascinating portraits in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection. The jewel with the dragon, two pearls and a ruby, which forms a set with the pendent hanging from a silk cord around her neck, refers to her public life. This dragon brooch is balanced on the other side by the prayer book and string of coral beads that has been identified as a rosary, both of which emphasise her piety and her inner life.

This image is a classic example of the Florentine Quattrocento portrait in which the sitter poses upright, in strict profile and bustlength with the arms in repose and the hands joined. In the face and body the features and proportions are idealised. In the present example, this is evident both in the lines that create the slender neck and shape of the body and in the expressionless and perfect features. The portrait followed the classical style of the period when the body proportions were idealized, and the faces conveyed character without expression.

Giovanna is shown wearing a richly embroidered dress and, in the background, is a selection of her personal belongings, a hanging coral rosary, and a prayers book. The Latin inscription, taken from an epigram by the 1st century AD poet Martial and the Roman numerals represent the date of his death. The English translation is:. Among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio. The artist used that portrait in his panel painting with a new background, though he unfortunately cut the arms and hands off rather awkwardly.

The delightful young woman now stands out, in a clear contrast of light against dark, from the black niche in the background. The reserved beauty of the young woman is fittingly expressed in the formal clarity of the composition. She is wearing a valuable piece of jewelry, comprising a ruby in a gold setting with three silky shining pearls, hanging from her neck by a delicate cord.