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Article: Exemplary gestures and 'authentic' physiognomies: Eckart Marchand offers an interpretation of Ghirlandaio's Famous Men in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.
- Article from:
- Apollo
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Apollo Magazine Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Ghirlandaio's decoration of the east wall of the Sala dei Gigli consists in its upper part of six ancient Roman heroes (Figs. 1 and 2). (1) As a cycle of uomini famosi, or 'Famous Men', they belong to an explicitly didactic genre inspired by humanist study and ancient literary traditions. Often situated at the political heart of the state, such cycles were intended to encourage the ruling elites to high standards of government and arguably supported the claim that their rule was informed by the example of the uomini famosi depicted. (2) Ghirlandaio's figures are accompanied by tituli, but these are short compared with those of earlier cycles. (3) By way of compensation ...