Numerous works on wood complete the career of Ghirlandaio, who was known above all as a fresco painter. They are works which again emphasize his abilities as a colourist, the harmonious pleasantness of his composition, and his faithfulness to certain models of his time and his school.

Ghirlandaio's greatest achievement was the decoration of mainly private chapels with monumental frescoes. That was what he was famous for and why he was in demand. But the furnishings of a chapel also included an altarpiece, and normally this would consist of an altar painting. The altarpieces normally found in Gothic art, consisting of several individual panels, with images painted on a gold background, had largely disappeared by Ghirlandaio's time. A new type of altarpiece had become common: the square panel. Though many of Ghirlandaio's motifs were influenced by Flemish panel paintings, he did not adopt their new technique of painting with oils, but continued to work predominantly with tempera throughout his life. The commission for the Sassetti Chapel in Santa Trinità included a panel painting for the altar of the chapel, while that for the Tornabuoni Chapel a panel painting for the main altar in the church of Santa Maria Novella - the Pala Tornabuoni - and its rear panel facing the apsidal chapel. The altarpiece with the Adoration of the Shepherds from above the altar in the Sassetti Chapel can still be worshipped in its original location, but the ensemble in the Tornabuoni Chapel was dismembered in 1816. The main altar painting is now in Munich, while the rear panel, the Resurrection of Christ is now in Berlin. Another important panel painting, the Adoration of the Magi in the Spedale degli Innocenti, Florence is displayed on separate pages this Gallery.

Preview	Picture Data	Info
	Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints c. 1479 Tempera on wood, 170 x 160 cm Cathedral of San Martino, Lucca
	Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints (detail) c. 1483 Tempera on wood Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints c. 1483 Tempera on wood, 191 x 200 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	St John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos 1480-85 Tempera on panel, diameter 76 cm Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
	St John the Evangelist on the Island of Patmos (detail) 1480-85 Tempera on panel Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
	Coronation of the Virgin 1486 Tempera on wood, 330 x 230 cm Palazzo Comunale, Narni
	Coronation of the Virgin 1486 Tempera on wood Pinacoteca Comunale, Città di Castello
	Madonna and Child Enthroned between Angels and Saints c. 1486 Tempera on wood,168 x 197 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	Madonna and Child Enthroned between Angels and Saints (detail) c. 1486 Tempera on wood Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	Adoration of the Magi 1487 Tempera on wood, diameter 171 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	Adoration of the Magi 1487 Tempera on wood, diameter 171 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	Adoration of the Magi (detail) 1487 Tempera on wood Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
	Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni 1488 Tempera on wood, 76 x 50 cm Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
	Portrait of a Lady c. 1490 Tempera, oil, and gold on panel, 56 x 38 cm The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
	Portrait of a Young Woman - Tempera on wood, 44 x 32 cm Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon
	An Old Man and His Grandson c. 1490 Tempera on wood, 62 x 46 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris
	Visitation c. 1491 Tempera on wood, 172 x 165 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris
	Christ in Heaven with Four Saints and a Donor c 1492 Tempera on wood, 308 x 199 cm Pinacoteca Comunale, Volterra
	The Nativity c. 1492 Tempera on wood, 45 x 42 cm Pinacoteca, Vatican
	Madonna in Glory with Saints 1490-96 Tempera on wood, 221 x 198 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich
	St Catherine of Siena and St Lawrence 1490-98 Tempera on wood Alte Pinakothek, Munich
	St Stephen 1490-94 Tempera on wood, 191 x 56 cm Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
	St Stephen (detail) 1490-94 Tempera on wood, 191 x 56 cm (full painting) Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
	Adoration of the Child - Tempera on wood, diameter 90 cm Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
	Annunciation 1489-90 Mosaic Porta della Mandorla, Duomo, Florence
	Francesco Sassetti and His Son Teodoro II c. 1490 Tempera on wood, 76 x 53 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
	Nativity c. 1492 Tempera on panel, 85 x 63 cm Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge