The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (186 page)

(1562–1636).
Flemish-born portrait painter, who settled in England in 1568 with his father
Marcus the Elder
(
c.
1530–
c.
1590), an engraver and painter. Marcus the Younger was probably the leading society portraitist in London at the peak of his career (his popularity declined after about 1615), but it is not easy to disentangle his work from that of some of his contemporaries. The best-known work attributed to him is the splendid full-length portrait of Elizabeth I known as the ‘Ditchley’ portrait (NPG, London,
c.
1592), in which the queen is shown standing on a map of England.

 
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(1565–1629).
Dutch draughtsman, engraver, and painter. He was born at Antwerp and was probably a pupil of his father
Jacob de Gheyn I
(
c.
1530–82), a glass painter and
miniaturist
. From
c.
1585 to 1590 he studied with Hendrick
Goltzius
. He worked for the Court of Orange at The Hague, and designed the grotto (the earliest in the Netherlands) and other ornamentation of Buitenhof, the garden of Prince Maurice. His drawings and engravings are of greater importance than his paintings, for in their spontaneity and informality they are outstanding documents of the period of transition from
Mannerism
to
naturalism
in Dutch art. His son
Jacob de Gheyn III
(
c.
1596–1641) was also an engraver, specializing in mythological subjects.

 
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Ghezzi , Pier Leone
.

See
CARICATURE
.

 
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(1378–1455)
. Florentine sculptor, goldsmith, and designer. He came to prominence in 1401 when he competed successfully (defeating
Brunelleschi
, Jacopo della
Quercia
, and others) for a commission, offered by the merchant guild, to make a pair of gilded bronze doors for the Baptistery of Florence. His competition
relief
of
The Sacrifice of Isaac
is in the Bargello, Florence. Work on the doors lasted until 1424 and in 1425 he was asked to make a second pair for the same building, which occupied him until 1452. These two commissions necessitated the formation of a large workshop in which some of the outstanding Florentine artists of the period, including
Donatello
,
Masolino
, and
Uccello
, received at least part of their training. Ghiberti also served on the committee in charge of the architectural works of Florence Cathedral, designed stained-glass windows, goldsmiths’ work, and reliquaries, and made several life-size bronze statues. He was also a writer and left a large incomplete manuscript under the title of
Commentarii
. Apart from a survey of ancient art based on
Pliny
and notes on the science of optics, this manuscript contains valuable records of Italian painters and sculptors of the trecento, and also Ghiberti's autobiography, the first by an artist that has survived. The same interest in the new humanist ideals that is reflected in Ghiberti's writings also prompted him to collect
classical
sculptures. Despite this prominent place which Ghiberti occupies in the classical revival, his style was deeply rooted in the tradition of
Gothic
craftsmanship. Not only was his first pair of Baptistery doors closely modelled on the pattern of Andrea
Pisano's
earlier doors, but its twenty episodes from the Life of Christ and its eight saints reflect the
International Gothic
style with its emphasis on graceful lines, lyrical sentiment, and minute attention to landscape detail. While these traits survive in Ghiberti's second pair of doors, they are here subordinated to the new principles of the
Renaissance
. The doors are divided into ten large panels in which episodes from the Old Testament are represented on carefully constructed
perspective
stages. As most of these reliefs were planned and laid out by 1437, they must rank among the most ‘advanced’ works of Florentine art, particularly in the mastery of composition within a spatial framework. The fame of these doors has always stood high.
Michelangelo's
dictum, recorded by
Vasari
, that they were worthy to form the Gates of Paradise secured their prestige even in times less sympathetic to
quattrocento
art.

 
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(1449–94).
Florentine painter. He trained with
Baldovinetti
and possibly with
Verrocchio
. His style was solid, prosaic, and rather old-fashioned (especially when compared with that of his great contemporary
Botticelli
), but he was an excellent craftsman and good businessman and had one of the most prosperous workshops in Florence. In this he was assisted by his two younger brothers,
Benedetto
(1458–97) and
Davide
(1452–1525). His largest undertaking was the fresco cycle in the choir of Sta Maria Novella, Florence, illustrating
Scenes from the Lives of the Virgin and St John the Baptist
(1486–90). This was commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni , a partner in the
Medici
bank, and Ghirlandaio depicts the sacred story as if it had taken place in the home of a wealthy Florentine burgher. It is this talent for portraying the life and manners of his time (he often included portraits in his religious works) that has made Ghirlandaio popular with many visitors to Florence. But he also had considerable skill in the management of complex compositions and a certain grandeur of conception that sometimes hints at the High
Renaissance
. Ghirlandaio worked on frescos in Pisa, San Gimignano, and Rome (in the Sistine Chapel) as well as in Florence, and his studio produced numerous altarpieces. He also painted portraits, the finest of which is
Old Man and his Grandson
(Louvre, Paris); this depicts the grandfather's diseased features with ruthless realism, but has a remarkable air of tenderness. Ghirlandaio's son and pupil
Ridolfo
(1483–1561) was a friend of
Raphael
and a portrait painter of some distinction. Domenico's most famous pupil, however, was
Michelangelo
.