Del Sarto, Andrea

Andrea del Sarto (1486/87 – 1530/1531) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early-Mannerism. Though highly regarded during his lifetime as an artist senza errori ("without errors"), his renown was eclipsed after his untimely death by that of his contemporaries, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Early life and training Andrea was born Andrea d''''Agnolo di Francesco di Luca di Paolo del Migliore in Gualfonda, close to Florence, on 16 July in either 1486 or 1487, one of four children. Since his father, Agnolo, was a tailor (sarto), he became known as "del Sarto" ("tailor''''s son"). Since 1677 some have attributed the surname Vannucchi with little documentation. By 1494 Andrea was apprenticed to a goldsmith, and then to a woodcarver and painter named Gian Barile, with whom he remained until 1498. According to Vasari, he then apprenticed to Piero di Cosimo, and later with Raffaellino 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 the Baptism of Christ for the Florentine Compagnia dello Scalzo, the beginning of a monochrome fresco series. By the time the partnership was dissolved, Sarto''''s style bore the stamp of individuality. 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." an outbreak of bubonic plague in Florence had driven him and his family. In 1525 he returned to paint in the Annunziata cloister the Madonna del Sacco, a lunette named after a sack against which Joseph is represented propped. In this painting the generous virgin''''s gown and her gaze indicate his influence on the early style of pupil Pontormo. In 1523 Andrea painted a copy of the portrait group of Pope Leo X by Raphael. (Andrea''''s copy is now in the Naples Museum, while the original remains at the Pitti.) The Raphael painting was owned by Ottaviano de'''' Medici, and requested by Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Unwilling to part with the original, Ottaviano retained Andrea to produce a copy, which he passed to the Duke as the original. So faithful was the imitation that even Giulio 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 only be convinced that it was not genuine when a private mark on the canvas was pointed out to him by Vasari. Andrea''''s final work at the Scalzo was the Birth of the Baptist (1526). In the following year he completed his last important painting, a celebrated Last Supper at S. Salvi, near Florence, in which all the personages appear to be portraits. A number of his paintings were considered to be self-portraits. A Portrait of a Young Man in the National Gallery, London was formerly believed to be a self-portrait[8], as was the Portrait of Becuccio Bicchieraio in National Gallery of Scotland[9], but both are now known not to be. There is a self-portrait at Alnwick Castle, a young man about twenty years, with his elbow on a table. Another youthful portrait is in the Uffizi Gallery, and the Pitti Palace contains more than one.