Andrea del Sarto
Andrea del Sarto | |
---|---|
Born | Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco di Luca 16 July 1486 Florence, Republic of Florence (present-day Italy) |
Died | before 29 September 1530 Florence, Republic of Florence (present-day Italy) | (aged 44)
Nationality | Tuscan Italian |
Known for | Painting |
Notable work | Madonna of the Harpies Nativity of the Virgin |
Movement | High Renaissance Mannerism |
Andrea del Sarto (US: /ɑːnˌdreɪə dɛl ˈsɑːrtoʊ/, UK: /ænˌ-/, Italian: [anˈdrɛːa del ˈsarto]; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. 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 artist senza errori ("without errors"), his renown was eclipsed after his death by that of his contemporaries Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
Early life and training
Andrea del Sarto was born Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco di Luca
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.[4] By the time the partnership was dissolved, Sarto's style bore the stamp of individuality. According to the Encyclopædia 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]
Frescoes at SS Annunziata in Florence
From 1509 to 1514 the
By 1514 Andrea had finished his last two frescoes in the Chiostro dei Voti (SS. Annunziata), including his masterpiece, the Nativity of the Virgin, which fuses the influence of Leonardo, Ghirlandaio, and Fra 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 the Allegory of Justice and the Baptist preaching in the desert, followed in 1517 by John Baptizing the People.[3]
Visit to France
Before the end of 1516, a Pietà of Del Sarto's composition, and afterwards a Madonna, were sent to the French Court. This led to an invitation from François 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 to Giorgio 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 from France was 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 to buy himself a house in Florence, thus ruining his reputation and preventing him from ever returning to France.[9] The story inspired Robert Browning's poem-monologue "Andrea del Sarto Called the 'Faultless Painter'" (1855),[11] but is now believed by some historians to be apocryphal.[12]
Later works in Florence
In 1520 he resumed work in Florence, and executed the Faith and Charity in the cloister of the Scalzo. These were succeeded by the Dance of the
In 1523 Andrea painted a copy of the portrait group of
Andrea's final work at the Scalzo was the Nativity of the Baptist (1526). In the following year he completed his last important painting, a Last Supper at San Salvi (now an inner suburb of Florence), in which all the characters appear to be portraits.[9] The church is now the Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto.
A number of his paintings were considered to be self-portraits. A Portrait of a Young Man in the
Madonna of the Harpies
The Madonna of the Harpies is 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 as harpies and 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 than Fra Bartolomeo's representations of the Holy Family.
Personal life
Andrea married Lucrezia (del Fede), widow of a hatter named Carlo, of Recanati, on 26 December 1512. Lucrezia appears in many of his paintings, often as a Madonna. However, Vasari describes her as "faithless, jealous, and vixenish with the apprentices".[10] She is similarly characterized in Robert Browning's poem.
Andrea died in Florence at age 44 during an outbreak of
Critical assessment and legacy
It was Michelangelo who had introduced
Vasari, however, was highly critical of his teacher, alleging that, although having all the prerequisites of a great artist, he lacked ambition and that divine fire of inspiration which animated the works of his more famous contemporaries: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
On 21 November 1848, the play Andre del Sarto, by Alfred de Musset, premiered in Paris.
In 1968 the
Partial anthology of works
- 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 in Uffizi, Florence)
- Portrait of a Young Man (1517–18, National Gallery, London)
- Charity (1518, Louvre, Paris)
- Julius Caesar Receives Tribute (c. 1520, fresco at Poggio a Caiano; completed by Alessandro 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 the Church 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
Notes
- ISBN 978-0198691372.
- ^ Nesi, Alessandro. "Ser Spillo: Fratello di Andrea del Sarto". Maniera. 2016: 2 – via Accademia.
- ^ a b c Shearman, John (1965). Andrea del Sarto. Oxford.
- ^ a b Rossetti 1911, p. 969.
- ^ "Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
- ^ "mega.it". mega.it. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ [1] Archived February 4, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Compare it to Ghirlandaio's Quattrocento treatment". Wga.hu. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g Rossetti 1911, p. 970.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-953719-4
- ^ "Stonehill". Faculty.stonehill.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ University of Toronto Library Archived January 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "National Gallery website". Nationalgallery.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
- ^ National Gallery of Scotland website Archived June 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 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.
- ^ Cole, Thomas B. Andrea del Sarto fingers. Journal of the American Medical Association, August 25, 2010, Vol. 304, No. 8, p. 833.
- ^ J.R. Hobbes p. 258-9.
- ^ "Welcome to". Nelepets.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
References
- public domain: Rossetti, William Michael (1911). "Andrea del Sarto". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 969–971. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Freedberg, Sydney J. (1993). Pelican History of Art (ed.). Painting in Italy, 1500-1600. pp. 90–95 Penguin Books Ltd.
- Hobbes, James R. (1849). Picture collector's manual; Dictionary of Painters. London: T. & W. Boone.
External links
- Andrea del Sarto in the "History of Art" Archived 2020-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
- Browning's "Andrea del Sarto" (aka "The Faultless Painter")
- Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913. .