Ghirlandaio grew up in Florence and became one of the city’s most sought-after painters of large narrative cycles. His workshop was skilled in fresco painting, portraiture, and the coordination of complex commissions. Among the artists trained in his shop was the young Michelangelo, a connection that links two generations of the chapel’s decoration.
His surviving Sistine Chapel contribution, the Calling of the First Apostles, illustrates Jesus summoning Peter and Andrew. The broad landscape and the groups of contemporary-looking spectators make the biblical event vivid to a Renaissance audience. His original Resurrection of Christ on the entrance wall was destroyed after architectural damage and later replaced.
Ghirlandaio was particularly adept at presenting sacred events as believable scenes populated by distinct individuals. Architectural settings, costumes, and portraits often reflect the world of wealthy Florence. His controlled drawing and orderly narrative arrangement suited extensive fresco cycles, where viewers had to follow stories across several walls.
His frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel and Tornabuoni Chapel are among his most significant achievements outside Rome. They reveal the scale of his workshop practice and his interest in joining sacred history to the life of his patrons. His importance to biblical art extends well beyond the single surviving Sistine Chapel scene.