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Ridolfo Ghirlandaio , Italian, 1483-1561

Title

The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist

Date16th century

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions

89 cm

Credit LinePurchased, 1942

Object numberNGI.1090

ProvenancePurchased, Mrs Edith Mendelssohn Bartholdy, London, 1942Exhibition HistoryCrawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, 1966

Label TextThis tondo (circular painting) depicts the Holy Family. Saint John the Baptist is shown wearing his customary camel-skin clothing while receiving a blessing from the Christ Child. Saint Joseph is relegated to the background, tending livestock. Fra Bartolommeo was a follower of the famous Dominican zealot, Savonarola, who preached against the moral decay of the Church. According to the writer Vasari, Bartolommeo participated in one of Savonarola’s regular Bonfires of the Vanities in Florence, burning his drawings of nude figures as ‘sinful’ objects. In 1500 he became a Dominican monk and abandoned painting for a number of years.