ALCOBA GHIRLANDAIO
"NO-SMOKING" ROOM

This bedchamber was originally the dining room of the home and its beautiful French-style stucco ceiling has been preserved.  From the middle of the ceiling hangs a silver French chandelier with eight lights.   It has a king bed, desk, fireplace and large bathroom with a sunken double whirlpool bath, separate shower and a small interior garden.

Like all “Estrella de Belem” bedchambers, it has insulated windows, radiant heat floors, air conditioning, an LCD television, high-speed internet access, electronic safe and direct-dial telephone.  The furniture is French country style and is made of alder, a tree from the British Isles that the Celts and Scots believed was sacred.





The oil painting that decorates the room is a copy of “The Adoration of the Shepherds” by Ghirlandaio, painted for Sassetti Chapel of  Santa Trinita church, in Florence.



Ghirlandaio was the sobriquet of Domenico di Tommaso, a Florentine painter who worked for the Medici.  He studied in the Baldovinetti and Verrocchio studios, where he met Leonardo da Vinci. Ghirlandaio’s style is frankly unholy, including his religious-themed paintings.  He set religious scenes inside the luxurious homes of the wealthiest Florentines.  He is therefore considered the best historiographer of the life and customs of the time.    Ghirlandaio was Michael Angelo’s teacher, and his son Ridolfo was a friend and colleague of Raphael.