I stumbled across this gorgeous painting, almost by chance in Florence. I popped into this church – Santa Trinita – on a whim to have a quick look around. I noticed that the people inside were congregating around one painting in a small chapel (Sassetti Chapel) to the right of the altar. The main painting in the centre of the chapel was, I discovered, a work called Adoration of the Shepherds, by Domenico Ghirlandaio (painted in 1485). I did not manage to get the whole scene in my photograph (above) but it is shown below. Mother Mary is looking at Jesus lying on a mat on the ground, with his head resting on a Roman marble sarcophagus (He does not look very comfortable!); Joseph is looking back (and scratching his forehead) at a huge procession of people including the Magi (the wise men) who are just about to arrive with their gifts. The shepherds are shown on the right, one of whom is carrying a lamb, just so you know! The artist himself (Ghirlandaio) is very much in the scene, dressed as a shepherd in a brown cloak. The artist, with long dark locks and striking features, is shown kneeling to the right of the donkey, pointing to the Christ child. His right hand is pointing towards himself, as if to say to us, I am the artist!

The closely cropped photograph below shows Mary and Joseph, and the delightfully innocent and benign animals in their rather ornate manger.

None of these photographs really do justice to the original painting, which when lit with an isolating spotlight, is very colourful and powerful. Even if you knew nothing about it, you would sense that this paiting was something special. And, when you discover that it was painted 530 years ago, well, it is quite amazing.

There are many other works of art in this church which apparently was constructed in 1258–1280, over a pre-existing 11th-century one.

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Ghirlandaio