GHIRLANDAJO, or CORRADI, Do3rEstco, an eminent painter of the early Florentine school, was b. at Florence in 1451. From his youth he was educated to the craft of the goldsmith by his father, who received the name of Ghirlandajo on account of his being the inventor of some silver ornaments of great elegance, in the form of a wreath or gltirlanda, which became the favorite head-dress of the Florentine beauties of his day. At the age of 24, Glmirlandajo abandoned working in gold, and set about qualifying him self for the calling of a painter. He lived to become not only a famous and lauded artist, but also one of the most progressive and original masters of his age. His greatest works are frescoes, but he has also left fine easel paintings, both in oil and distemper, and his composition in mosaic—or "eternal painting," as he termed it—are unrivaled for the brilliant dyes of the coloring and the delicate softness with which they are blended and graduated. The Capella di Sassetti, in Florence, contains a noble series of
Gliirlandajo's frescos, illustrative of both historical and legendary incidents in the life of St. Francis. They are stongly characterized by the wonderful mastery of intense and varied human expression, which, more than accurate delineation of form, was the great merit of Gliirlandajo's paintings. The church of Santa Maria Novella is also rich in this artist's works, being adorned by a set of frescos representing scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, many of the figures introduced being correct likenesses of some of the leading celebrities of the day. Ghirlandajo was the first artist who adopted correct principles of perspective, just gradations of shade and form, and dramatic art in grouping. Ghirlandajo died at the early age of-44, in the year 1495.