Fotoreproductie van een fresco in het Ospedale degli Innocenti te Florence door Domenico Ghirlandaio, detail uit de aanbidding van Maria voorstellend het hoofd van Maria c. 1875 - 1900

This is a photographic reproduction of a fresco detail by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence. It depicts the head of Mary from the Adoration scene. The Ospedale degli Innocenti, or Hospital of the Innocents, was a Florentine orphanage, and its decoration reflects the civic responsibility of art in Renaissance Italy. This image creates meaning through its cultural references to the Madonna and Child. Domenico Ghirlandaio painted the original fresco in Florence, Italy, during the early Renaissance, around 1488. At that time wealthy patrons and religious institutions commissioned art to demonstrate their wealth and solidify their social standing. Ghirlandaio's fresco, adorning a public orphanage, speaks to the philanthropic impulses of the Florentine elite. The role of the art historian in interpreting this work involves examining primary sources, such as orphanage records and artists' contracts, to better understand the social and institutional context in which the fresco was created. Art's meaning is always contingent on its social and institutional context.