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

Visitation (detail)

1486-90
Fresco
Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

In the background three men are leaning over the wall and watching the activity in the city below, activities we cannot see. The tower between the two trees is very similar to that of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. Two figures stepping out through the classical gateway make it clear just how monumentally large, and how far away, the building behind them is.