David Ghirlandaio

David Ghirlandaio (1452-1525), the brother and business partner of the more illustrious Domenico Ghirlandaio, was active in Florence during the latter half of the 15th Century. Both David and Domenico share similar approaches to tempera painting, some of which are revealed in the annotated version of The Virgin and Child with St. John (c. 1490-1500) on the following page. 

Characteristic of the brothers work, and of the work of many artists who studied in the Ghirlandaio workshop, is the green earth underpaint made visible in the application of pigment in a manner called 'hatching'. 

The hatching technique consists of thin and precise strokes of paint being applied atop the green underlayer as a means of creating 'blended' colour and shadow. This technique is applied because, unlike the medium of oil, tempera is not easy to blend once applied to the panel (due to its fast drying nature).