
Price: $395,000
The man’s disfigured nose, thought to show rhinophyma, is painted without idealization. At a time when portraits often flattered their subjects, Ghirlandaio’s honesty helped make this one of the Renaissance’s most human portraits.
The boy looks up at his grandfather with trust and tenderness, without fear or pity. Their quiet affection has moved viewers for centuries. To the child, his grandfather is the most beautiful person in the world.
Through the window, a path, mountains and trees are painted with Flemish precision—an unusual detail in a Florentine portrait, and perhaps a nod to the Netherlandish school’s influence on Italian art.
A persistent legend says the old man was painted from a death mask, explaining his unidealized face. There’s no firm evidence, but the story still arises at the Louvre, where the painting has been held since 1886.
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