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Michele Tosini and the Ghirlandaio Workshop in Cinquecento Florence

Heidi J. Hornik
Heidi J. Hornik is Professor of Italian Renaissance and Baroque Art History at Baylor University in Texas. She received her degrees from Cornell University and The Pennsylvania State University. In addition to publications on Michele Tosini, Hornik has co-authored three interdisciplinary volumes on art and theology, Illuminating Luke, and co-edited one book, Interpreting Christian Art, with Mikeal C. Parsons.

This book sets out to establish Michele Tosini’s critical role in sixteenth-century Mannerist art in Florence. He was well-trained, well-educated and well-liked, and created a highly productive workshop environment that not only succeeded but thrived in one of the most competitive ages of artistic production in the history of art.
… To date, scholarship executed on Tosini (Carlo Gamba in 1928, Sydney Freedberg in 1974) has produced a plethora of misunderstandings about Tosini’s role in the Florentine artistic community. The verdict that Tosini was a “hack” painter who could make his works look like those of more “established” painters in order to get commissions, and that he was an uneducated “second-rate” painter who could not formulate complex iconographical programs, is at odds with the evidence presented in this current research. Tosini was much more than just “the right man in the right place at the right time”. He not only promoted Mannerism, but was part of its process; indeed, the formation of the Accademia del Disegno took place at the height of his artistic career. Given his business acumen it is perhaps understandable that “misunderstandings” have arisen. (To borrow from William Wallace, Tosini can legitimately be thought of as “Genius as Entrepreneur”.)
… Michele Tosini and the Ghirlandaio Workshop in Cinquecento Florence is not only essential reading for all students of Late Renaissance / Mannerist art history, but a majestic story of the process of artistic endeavor and how it unfolds that is so deeply admired today.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: With Spirit and Without Effort Chapter One: Respectful of Tradition Chapter Two: Confraternities, Accademia and Civic Projects Chapter Three: Patterns of Patronage – Innovative Iconography Chapter Fou:Tosini’s Workshop Style – The Dissemination of the High Maniera in Florence Epilogue: A Living Legacy Appendix: Documents Notes Works Cited Index
“Heidi Hornik’s volume on Michele Tosini offers us the kind of coverage that we would like to have for every artist: a careful study of the individual and his life and times, thoughtful analyses of his works, and an appendix of documents, most of which are published here for the first time. These documents help to establish Tosini’s importance in his lifetime, especially his roles as the head of a major workshop and as one of the founding members of the Florentine Accademia del Disegno. Tosini was active in several confraternities (their organization and activities are discussed in full detail), had a number of powerful patrons, and played a role in the important but ephemeral decorations created for the major public events of the period. Hornik does not get bogged down in the difficult question of Tosini attributions, but chooses instead to provide a rich picture of his life and works by focusing on thirty-six works that she examines in careful detail. Hornik’s analysis of Tosini’s iconographic program at the Strozzi Chapel in Paolini reveals both the depth of his knowledge and his understanding of the requirements of the Catholic Reformation.” David Wilkins, Professor Emeritus of the History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh and co-author with Frederick Hartt of History of Italian Renaissance Art “Because Tosini was an important enough artist to be recorded by name during his lifetime, he has attracted the attention of art historians during the 20th century, says, but very little has been known about his life, his relationships with colleagues, and his children until now. She confesses that the investigation has not been easy. Archival documents, most published here for the first time, record the major events and important details on his life. Of particular significance is the role of the children in his artistic career. Among the crucial documents is his testament, which she located in 1989 and published in Paragone. She integrates historical and biographical concerns with a stylistic iconography of the original works of art.” Reference & Research Book News "Often dismissed as lacking significance by both contemporaries and subsequent historians, the Ghirlandaio workshop has received limited scholarly attention (except for a few good essays) thus far despite its interesting appeal. … Newly found documents shed light on the relationship between Michele Tosini, Ghirlandaio workshop, and the city of Florence; in fact, Heidi J. Hornik, professor of Italian Renaissance and Baroque Art History at Baylor University, offers us a complete scenario of Mannerist art in Florence and Tosini’s workshop style. This compact volume presents the study in four brief chapters, all beautifully illustrated. With an introduction and a useful documental appendix, it is the result of a series of studies on the matter begun in the 1980s and it is her last work on the subject. As she declares in the book’s introduction, the intent of the study is that the next generation of art historians will begin to think clearly about Michele Tosini and artists like him in terms of all of their contributions (artistic, religious,and civic) (xviii). … Through extensive archival research at Archivio di Stato and Archivio di S. Maria Novella in Florence, Hornik has produced an enlightening and engaging study of a fascinating period of Florence art history when the Italian painter Michele Tosini (1503–77) worked there. He was the pupil and adopted son of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio and became known as Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio. This work has much to commend it. … In conclusion, this volume will be of great interest to historians of Italian Mannerist art, to scholars of art literature, and to specialists in the history of Florentine art. Hornik’s work is interesting, informative, and fair and offers something to the specialist as well as the common reader.” Sixteenth Century Journal

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