This detail from Ghirlandaio’s fresco (1485–1490) of the Birth of John the Baptist shows a scene of domestic care immediately following the child’s arrival. In the foreground a wet nurse sits on the floor, her body arranged in a broad, stabilising pose as she cradles and feeds the infant John. Her rich garments, vivid yellow skirt and green-blue bodice, are rendered with the crisp modelling and elaborate folds characteristic of Ghirlandaio’s workshop, signalling both the dignity of her role and the social status of the household she serves.

Behind her, another attendant prepares refreshments on a table laid with a crisp white cloth, amplifying the atmosphere of ordered domestic activity. This layering of figures, wet nurse, servant, midwives, highlights Ghirlandaio’s interest in the everyday rhythms of elite Florentine life, as well as his practice of integrating contemporary domestic detail into sacred narrative.

The use of a wet nurse in the scene reflects historical reality: in 15th-century Florence, upper-status families typically engaged professional nurses to care for newborns, even within biblical settings. Ghirlandaio uses the motif to lend immediacy and realism to the story, placing the miraculous birth of the Baptist within a recognisable contemporary domestic environment.

The entire composition belongs to the Tornabuoni Chapel cycle (1485–1490), one of the major fresco commissions of the Florentine Quattrocento, celebrated for its narrative clarity, refined colour, and richly observed social detail.