Vocation of the Apostles
Encyclopedia
The Vocation of the Apostles is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was Michelangelo.-Early years:Ghirlandaio's full name is given as Domenico di Tommaso di Currado di Doffo Bigordi...

, executed in 1481-1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...

, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

History

In 1481 a group of Florentine painters left for Rome, where they had been called as part of the reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...

, the de facto ruler of Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...

, and Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...

. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...

 as early as the Spring of 1481, along with Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino , born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance...

, who was already there.

The theme of the decoration was a parallel between the Stories of Moses and those of Christ, as a sign of continuity between the Old
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

 and the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

. A continuity also between the divine law of the Tables and the message of Jesus, who, in turn, chose Peter (the first alleged bishop of Rome) as his successor: this would finally result into a legitimation of the latter's successors, the popes of Rome.

Two frescoes are certainly by Ghirlandaio, the Vocation of the Apostles and the Resurrection, which was repainted in the late 16th century due to extensive damage. A third, the The Crossing of the Red Sea
The Crossing of the Red Sea (Sistine Chapel)
The Crossing of the Red Sea is a fresco executed in 1481-1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. Of uncertain attribution, it has been assigned to one between Domenico Ghirlandaio, Biagio d'Antonio or Cosimo Rosselli.-History:...

, in the "Stories of Moses" wall, has been assigned to one among Ghirlandaio, Biagio d'Antonio
Biagio d'Antonio
Biagio d’Antonio Tucci was an Italian Renaissance painter whose style was influenced by Filippo Lippi, Andrea Verrocchio and Domenico Ghirlandaio.-Biography:Biagio was born in Florence....

 or Cosimo Rosselli
Cosimo Rosselli
Cosimo Rosselli was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence.-Biography:Born in Florence, at the age of fourteen he became a pupil of Neri di Bicci, and in 1460 he worked as assistant to his cousin Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli...

.

Description

The scene of the Vocation shows, above a lake in a wide mountainous valley, the fishermen Peter and Andrew (on the left) in the moment in which they are called by Jesus, who stands on the shore. A few time later, the two are behind Jesus on the opposite shore (on the right), while the latter calls James and John, who are restoring the nets on their father Zebedee's boat, in the center of the scene.

In the foreground are Peter and Andrew, already dressing the cloaks with their traditional colors (yellow or orange for Peter, green for Andrew). They are kneeling beside Christ who solemnly bless them. An original element of the fresco is the presence of a moltitude of beholders, portrayed in contemporary clothes. Their faces were those of the Florentine community in Rome, who resided near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Santa Maria sopra Minerva
The Basilica of Saint Mary Above Minerva is a titular minor basilica and one of the most important churches of the Roman Catholic Dominican order in Rome, Italy. The church, located in the Piazza della Minerva in the Campus Martius region, is considered the only Gothic church in Rome. It houses...

.

At the left is a white bearded man, perhaps a literate from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 who was also used as model for the St. Jerome in His Study in the church of Ognissanti in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

. At the center, just behind Jesus, is the portrait of Diotisalvi Neroni
Diotisalvi Neroni
thumb|250px|Portrait of Diotsalvi Neroni from a nineteenth century engraving.Diotisalvi Neroni was an Italian politician.-Biography:Born in Florence, he was appointed to numerous important positions in that city...

, who had taken refuge in Rome after plotting against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici
Piero di Cosimo de' Medici
Piero di Cosimo de' Medici , , was the de facto ruler of Florence from 1464 to 1469, during the Italian Renaissance. He was the father of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano de' Medici-Biography:Piero was born in Florence, the son of Cosimo de' Medici the Elder and Contessina de' Bardi...

. Another exile from Constantinople is John Argyropoulos
John Argyropoulos
John Argyropoulos was a Greek lecturer, philosopher and humanist, one of the émigré scholars who pioneered the revival of Classical learning in Western Europe in the 15th century...

, who appears on the right. Other characters on the right are members of the Tornabuoni family.
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