In a seminar on early Renaissance Florentine art with Dr. Lois Eliason, Ingrid became interested in the frescoes of Domenico Ghirandaio (1448-94), one of the most celebrated artists of the late 15th century in Florence. Her research on his Birth of the Virgin (1485-90) fresco in the Tornabuoni Chapel at Santa Maria Novella became the foundation for her Qualifying Paper topic, and draws on a variety of methodologies – including stylistic, feminist, materialistic, and theories about sensory experience in art – to better understand the artist’s work and contributions.
Ingrid at the Tornabuoni Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Ingrid had two hypotheses that were crucial to investigate in-person: Firstly, how did Ghirlandaio intentionally introduce sound into his frescoes, creating a multi-sensory experience? Secondly, how did Ghirlandaio’s involvement in his family’s goldsmith business influence his art in comparison with his contemporaries?
Through a travel grant awarded by the Art History department, Ingrid was able to explore these questions onsite in Florence, providing her with an a wealth of contextual information that simply would not have been possible through digital or library research alone. Some particularly valuable scholarly experiences including attending a mass a Santa Maria Novella to experience the acoustics Ghirlandaio would have been working with, and the discovery of a golden plate at the Bargello Museum that was nearly identical to one depicted in Ghirlandaio’s Santa Fina fresco (1477-78). These will be important contributions to her qualifying paper.
