GHIRLANDAIO, Domenico
(b. 1449, Firenze, d. 1494, Firenze)

Adoration of the Shepherds (detail)

1483-85
Panel
Santa Trinita, Florence

Hugo van der Goes' group of adoring shepherds in the Portinari altarpiece returns in Ghirlandaio's Adoration with very obvious similarities. And yet there is no doubt that there is a difference in the physical culture of the people: Ghirlandaio's shepherds, who at the angel's announcement have just left the fields dressed in old work-clothes with picks and hoes, are more comely. Before arriving at the manger they have been home to put on cleaner clothes; their appearance, faces and expressions are less rough, breathless and astonished. There is more tender adoration in them than wonder, and although they have the posture and gestures of simple folk they are certainly anything but coarse. The first shepherd, kneeling down, is Ghirlandaio himself.

In the distance is a town set in the midst of hills and woods that in appearance would seem to be more Northern than Tuscan. Here there is clearly a fresh reminder of Flemish art, especially that of Hugo van der Goes.