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Notes
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The sitter is almost certainly Girolamo Benivieni (1453–1542), a significant Florentine literary and political figure. Initially one of the intellectuals surrounding the cultured Lorenzo de' Medici, who effectively ruled Florence, he fell under the influence of the Dominican preacher and reformer Girolamo Savonarola, who persuaded the Florentines to form a populist republic. Benivieni denounced his own early love poetry and instead wrote songs to accompany the bonfires of frivolous and erotic objects organised by Savonarola’s youthful followers. Ghirlandaio has made a detailed and sensitive study of the deep wrinkles and criss-cross lines of the old man’s face. The uninhabited, dream-like landscape evokes the realm of thought and poetry occupied by his mind.
Title
Portrait of Girolamo Benivieni
Date
probably about 1510-20
Medium
Oil on wood
Measurements
H 70.5 x W 56.2 cm
Accession number
NG2491
Acquisition method
Salting Bequest, 1910
Work type
Painting
