Ghirlandaio - Vocation of the Apostles [1481-82]

Vocation of the Apostles [1481-82]

Domenico Ghirlandaio

Vatican, Sistine chapel, north wall

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocation_of_the_Apostles

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Description

In the background left, the fishermen Peter and Andrew are called by Jesus. The two can also be seen in the background right, behind Jesus, who calls James and John, who are restoring the nets on their father Zebedee's boat.

 

In the foreground are Peter and Andrew, dressed in cloaks with their traditional colors (yellow-orange for Peter and green for Andrew). They are kneeling beside Christ, who blesses them. A unique element of the fresco is the inclusion of a multitude portrayed in contemporary clothes. Their faces were those of the Florentine community in Rome,[1] who resided near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

 

At the left is a white bearded man, perhaps a literate from Constantinople who was also used as a model for St. Jerome in His Study in the church of Ognissanti in Florence. At the center, just behind Jesus, is the portrait of Diotisalvi Neroni, who had taken refuge in Rome after plotting against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici. Another exile from Constantinople is John Argyropoulos, who appears on the right. Other characters on the right are members of the Tornabuoni family. The white-haired, bareheaded man in the foreground on the right and the boy in the black doublet in front of him are identified as the banker Giovanni Tornabuoni and his son Lorenzo.

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