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Andrea del Sarto

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For the 1855 poem by Robert Browning, seeAndrea del Sarto (poem).
Andrea del Sarto
Self-portrait
Born
Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco di Luca

(1486-07-16)16 July 1486 Florence,Republic of Florence(present-dayItaly)
Diedbefore 29 September 1530(1530-09-29)(aged 44)
Florence, Republic of Florence(present-day Italy)
NationalityTuscan
Italian
Known forPainting
Notable workMadonna of the Harpies
Nativity of the Virgin
MovementHigh Renaissance
Mannerism

Andrea del Sarto(US:/ɑːnˌdreɪədɛlˈsɑːrtoʊ/,UK:/ænˌ-/,Italian:[anˈdrɛːadelˈsarto];16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was anItalian painterfromFlorence,whose career flourished during theHigh Renaissanceand earlyMannerism.He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, painter of altar-pieces, portraitist, draughtsman, and colorist.[1]Although highly regarded during his lifetime as an artistsenza errori( "without errors" ), his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporariesLeonardo da Vinci,Michelangelo,andRaphael.

Early life and training

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The house of Andrea del Sarto

Andrea del Sarto was bornAndrea d'Agnolo di Francesco di Luca[2]inFlorenceon 16 July 1486. Since his father, Agnolo, was a tailor (Italian:sarto), he became known as "del Sarto" (meaning "tailor's son" ).[3]Since 1677 some have attributed the surname Vannucchi with little documentation.

By 1494, Andrea was apprenticed to agoldsmith,and then to awoodcarverand painter named Gian Barile, with whom he remained until 1498.[4]According to his late biographerVasari,he then apprenticed toPiero di Cosimo,and later withRaffaellino del Garbo(Carli).

Andrea and an older friend,Franciabigio,decided to open a joint studio at a lodging together in the Piazza del Grano. The first product of their partnership may have been theBaptism of Christfor the FlorentineCompagnia dello Scalzo,the beginning of amonochromefrescoseries.[4]By the time the partnership was dissolved, Sarto's style bore the stamp of individuality. According to theEncyclopædia Britannica,it "is marked throughout his career by an interest, exceptional among Florentines, in effects of colour and atmosphere and by sophisticated informality and natural expression of emotion".[5]

Birth of the Virgin (detail), 1509–10, SS Annunziata, Chiostrino dei Voti, Florence
Andrea del Sarto, S Filippo Benizi's Death and Child restored to Life (detail), 1509f, SS Annunziata, Chiostrino dei Voti, Florence

Frescoes at SS Annunziata in Florence

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From 1509 to 1514 theServite Orderemployed Del Sarto,Franciabigio,andAndrea Feltriniin a programme offrescoesatBasilica della Santissima Annunziata di Firenze.[6]Sarto completed seven frescoes in the forecourt or atrium (the chiostro dei voti) before the Servite church, five of which illustrated theLife and miracles ofFilippo Benizzi,[7]a Servite saint who died in 1285 (canonized 1671). He executed them rapidly, depicting the saint healing a leper through the gift of his undertunic; predicting the bad end of some blasphemers; and restoringa girl possessed with a devil.The two final frescoes of the series depicted the healing of a child at the death bed of Filippo Benizzi and the curing of sick adults and children through his relic garment held at the church. All five frescoes were completed before the close of 1510.[3]The original contract also required him to paint five scenes of the life and miracles of St. Sebastian, but he told the Servites that he no longer wished to continue with the second cycle, most likely due to the low remuneration. The Servites convinced him to do two more frescoes in the forecourt, although of a different subject matter: aProcession of the Magi(containing a self-portrait) finished in 1511 and aNativity of the Virgin.These paintings met with respect, the correctness of the contours being particularly admired, and earned for Sarto the nickname of "Andrea senza errori" (Andrea the perfect). Toward 1512 he painted an (San Gallo Annunciation)Annunciationin theChurch of San Galloand aMarriage of Saint Catherine(Dresden).

By 1514, Andrea had finished his last two frescoes in the Chiostro dei Voti (SS. Annunziata), including his masterpiece, theNativity of the Virgin,which fuses the influence ofLeonardo,Ghirlandaio,andFra Bartolomeo.[8]By November 1515 he had finished at the nearby Chiostro of the Confraternity of St. John the Baptist, commonly known as the Scalzo theAllegory of Justiceand theBaptist preaching in the desert,followed in 1517 byJohn Baptizing the People.[3]

Visit to France

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Del Sarto's most ambitious monument, in terms of the amount of time he devoted to it, is thegrisailleseries in the Chiostro dello Scalzo.

Before the end of 1516, a Pietà of Del Sarto's composition, and afterward a Madonna, were sent to theFrenchCourt. This led to an invitation fromFrançois I,in 1518, and he journeyed to Paris in June of that year, along with his pupil Andrea Squarzzella, leaving his wife, Lucrezia, in Florence.[9]

According toGiorgio Vasari,Andrea's pupil and biographer,[10]Lucrezia wrote to Andrea and demanded he return to Italy. The king assented, but only on the understanding that his absence fromFrancewas to be short. He then entrusted Andrea with a sum of money to be expended in purchasing works of art for the French Court. By Vasari's account, Andrea took the money and used it instead to buy a house in Florence, thus ruining his reputation and preventing him from ever returning to France.[9]The story inspiredRobert Browning's poem-monologue "Andrea del Sarto Called the 'Faultless Painter'"(1855),[11]but now is dismissed by some historians as apocryphal, untrue although oft-repeated.[12]

Later works in Florence

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Assumption of the Virgin(Poppi Altarpiece), 1530
Head of Saint John the Baptist,c. 1523,National Gallery of Art

He resumed work in Florence during 1520 and executed theFaithandCharityin the cloister of the Scalzo. These were succeeded by theDance of theDaughter of Herodias,theBeheading of the Baptist,thePresentation of his head toHerod,an allegory of Hope, theApparition of the Angel toZacharias(1523) and the monochromeVisitation.This last was painted in the autumn of 1524, after Andrea had returned from Luco inMugello,whence an outbreak ofbubonic plaguein Florence had driven him and his family. In 1525, he returned to paint in the Annunziata cloister theMadonna del Sacco,alunettenamed after a sack against which Joseph is represented propped.[9]In this painting the generous virgin's gown and her gaze indicate his influence on the early style of pupilPontormo.

In 1523, Andrea painted a copy of the portrait group ofPope Leo Xby Raphael; this copy is now in theMuseo di CapodimonteinNaples,while the original remains at the Pitti Palace. The Raphael painting was owned byOttaviano de' Medici,and requested byFederico II Gonzaga,Duke ofMantua.Unwilling to part with the original, Ottaviano retained Andrea to produce a copy, which he passed to the Duke as the original. The imitation was so faithful that evenGiulio Romano,who had himself manipulated the original to some extent, was completely fooled; and, on showing the copy years afterwards to Vasari, who knew the truth, he could be convinced that it was not genuine only when a private mark on the canvas was pointed out to him by Vasari.[9]

Andrea's final work at the Scalzo was theNativity of the Baptist(1526). In the following year he completed his last important painting, aLast SupperatSan Salvi(now an inner suburb of Florence), in which all the characters appear to be portraits.[9]The church is now theMuseo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto.

A number of his paintings were considered to be self-portraits. Formerly, aPortrait of a Young Manin theNational Gallery, Londonwas believed to be a self-portrait,[13]as was the Portrait of Becuccio Bicchieraio inNational Gallery of Scotland,[14]but now both are known not to be self-portraits. There is a self-portrait atAlnwick Castle,a young man about twenty years of age with his elbow on a table. Another youthful portrait is in theUffizi Galleryand thePitti Palacecontains more than one.[9]

Madonna of the Harpies

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TheMadonna of the Harpies,1517

TheMadonna of the Harpiesis a depiction of the Virgin and child on a pedestal, flanked by two saints (Bonaventure or Francis and John the Evangelist), and at her feet, two cherubs. The pedestal is decorated with a relief depicting some feminine figures interpreted asharpiesand thus gave rise, in English, to the name of the painting. Originally completed in 1517 for the convent of San Francesco dei Macci, the altarpiece now resides in the Uffizi. In an Italy swamped with a tsunami of Madonnas, it would be easy to overlook this work; however, this commonly copied scheme also lends itself to comparison of his style with that of his contemporaries. The figures have a Leonardo da Vinci-like aura, and the stable pyramid of their composition provides a unified structure. In some ways, his rigid adherence is more classical than Leonardo da Vinci's but less so thanFra Bartolomeo's representations of the Holy Family.

Pietà with Saints,1523–24

Personal life

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Andrea married Lucrezia (del Fede), the widow of a hatter named Carlo, ofRecanati,on 26 December 1512. Lucrezia appears in many of his paintings, often as aMadonna.Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) describes her as "faithless, jealous, and vixenish with the apprentices".[10]She is similarly characterized inRobert Browning's poem.

Andrea died in Florence at age 44 during an outbreak ofBubonic Plagueat the end of September 1530. He was buried unceremoniously by the Misericordia in the church of the Servites.[15]InLives of the Artists,Vasari claimed Andrea received no attention at all from his wife during his terminal illness.[10]However, it was well known at the time that plague was highly contagious, so it has been speculated that Lucrezia might have been afraid of contracting the virulent and frequently-fatal disease. If true, this well-founded caution was rewarded, as she survived her husband by 40 years.[16]

Critical assessment and legacy

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Said to have thought very highly of Andrea's talents, Michelangelo introduced thirteen-year-oldVasarito Andrea's studio in 1524.[9]Of those who initially followed Andrea's style in Florence, the most prominent would beJacopo Pontormo,along withRosso Fiorentino,Francesco Salviati,andJacopino del Conte.Other lesser known assistants and pupils include Bernardo del Buda, Lamberto Lombardi, Nannuccio Fiorentino, and Andrea Squazzella.[17]Vasari, however, was highly critical of his teacher, alleging that, although having all the prerequisites of a great artist, he lacked ambition and a divine fire of inspiration that animated the works of his more famous contemporaries: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

On 21 November 1848, the playAndre del Sarto,byAlfred de Musset,premiered inParis.

In 1968, theoperaAndrea del Sartoby French composerJean-Yves Daniel-Lesurwas based on Alfred de Musset's 1848 play.

Partial anthology of works

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Portrait of a Man,Metropolitan Museum of Art
The so-calledPortrait of a Sculptor,long believed to have been Del Sarto's self-portrait.National Gallery
  • Holy Family with St. Peter Martyr(1507–1508,Pinacoteca di Bari)
  • Noli me tangere(c. 1510,Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, Florence)
  • Virgin, Child, Elizabeth and John the Baptist(c. 1513,National Gallery,London)
  • Portrait of the Artist's Wife(1513–1514,Museo del Prado,Madrid)
  • Nativity of the Virgin(1513–1514,Santissima Annunziata, Florence)
  • Madonna of the Harpies(Virgin and Child, with St. Francis, St. John the Evangelist, and two angels) (1517, painted at S. Francesco, now inUffizi,Florence)
  • Portrait of a Young Man(1517–18, National Gallery, London)
  • Charity(1518,Louvre,Paris)
  • Julius CaesarReceives Tribute(c. 1520,fresco atPoggio a Caiano;completed byAlessandro Allori)
  • Virgin Surrounded by Saints(Pitti Palace,Florence)[18]
  • Madonna della Scala(c. 1522–1523,Museo del Prado, Madrid)
  • Panciatichi Assumption(c. 1522–1523,Galleria Palatina, Pitti Palace, Florence)
  • Pietà(1523–1524, Galleria Palatina, Pitti Palace, Florence)
  • Passerini Assumption(1526, Galleria Palatina, Pitti Palace, Florence)
  • Last Supper(1511–1527, Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, Florence)
  • The Disputation on the Trinity(c. 1528,altarpiece for theChurch of San Gallo,now in the Uffizi, Florence)
  • Gambassi Altarpiece(c. 1528,Galleria Palatina, Pitti Palace, Florence)
  • Barberini Holy Family(c. 1528,Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica,Palazzo Barberini, Rome)
  • St. James with Two Youngs(c. 1528–1529,Uffizi, Florence)
  • Vallombrosa Polyptych(c. 1528–1529,Uffizi, Florence)
  • Holy Family with John the Baptist(c. 1529,Hermitage,St. Petersburg)
  • Borgherini Holy Family(c. 1529,Metropolitan Museum,New York)
  • Medici Holy Family(c. 1529,Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence)
  • Madonna in Glory with Four Saints(1530, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Norwich, John Julius (1990).Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia Of The Arts.USA: Oxford University Press. p. 16.ISBN978-0198691372.
  2. ^Nesi, Alessandro."Ser Spillo: Fratello di Andrea del Sarto".Maniera.2016:2 – via Accademia.
  3. ^abcShearman, John (1965).Andrea del Sarto.Oxford.
  4. ^abRossetti 1911,p. 969.
  5. ^"Encyclopædia Britannica".Britannica.com.Retrieved2019-07-11.
  6. ^"mega.it".mega.it.Retrieved2012-09-24.
  7. ^[1]ArchivedFebruary 4, 2006, at theWayback Machine
  8. ^"Compare it to Ghirlandaio's Quattrocento treatment".Wga.hu.Retrieved2012-09-24.
  9. ^abcdefgRossetti 1911,p. 970.
  10. ^abcVasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Artists. Oxford University Press, USA; Reissue edition (December 15, 2008).ISBN0-19-953719-4
  11. ^"Stonehill".Faculty.stonehill.edu. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-11-20.Retrieved2012-09-24.
  12. ^University of Toronto LibraryArchivedJanuary 4, 2010, at theWayback Machine
  13. ^"National Gallery website".Nationalgallery.org.uk.Retrieved2012-09-24.
  14. ^National Gallery of Scotland websiteArchivedJune 20, 2010, at theWayback Machine
  15. ^O'Brien, Alana."Andrea del Sarto and the Compagnia dello Scalzo".Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorischen Institutes in Florenz.XLVIII (2004): 258–267, 262 – via JSTOR ACADEMIA.
  16. ^Cole, Thomas B. Andrea del Sarto fingers.Journal of the American Medical Association,August 25, 2010, Vol. 304, No. 8, p. 833.
  17. ^J.R. Hobbes p. 258-9.
  18. ^"Welcome to".Nelepets.com.Retrieved2012-09-24.

References

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