Andrea del Sarto

Andrea del Sarto: see Sarto, Andrea del.

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Andrea del Sarto

 orig. Andrea d'Agnolo

Marriage of St. Catherine, oil on panel by Andrea del Sarto, …

(credit: Sachsische Landesbibliothek/Abteilung Deutsche Fotothek/A. Rous)

(born July 16, 1486, Florence [Italy]—died Sept. 28, 1530, Florence) Italian painter active in Florence. After an apprenticeship with Piero di Cosimo, he became established as one of the outstanding painters of Florence, most notably as a fresco decorator and painter of altarpieces in the style of the High Renaissance. His feeling for colour and atmosphere was unrivaled among Florentine painters. One of his most striking achievements was the series of grisaille frescoes on the life of St. John the Baptist (1511–26) in the Chiostro dello Scalzo. His work is noted particularly for its exquisite composition and craftsmanship. It was instrumental in the development of Florentine Mannerism.

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Andrea del Sarto 

(real name, Andrea del d’Agnolo). Born July 16, 1486, in Florence; died there Sept. 28 (or 29), 1530. Italian painter.

Andrea del Sarto studied under Piero di Cosimo and was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Bartolommeo, and Michelangelo. In 1518–19 he painted in Paris. His works in Florence include frescoes for the cloister of the Church of Santissima Annunziata (1510–15), for the Scalzi Monastery (1515–26), and the San Salvi Monastery (late 1520’s). Other works by Andrea are Madonna of the Harpies (1517, Uffizi Gallery, Florence), Madonna and Child With St. Catherine, St. Elizabeth, and John the Baptist (1519, Hermitage, Leningrad) and Portrait of a Sculptor (National Gallery, London).

Andrea’s paintings are marked by clearly spaced composition based on a complex balancing of spatial elements. In many respects, the gentle, poetic spirituality of Andrea’s works was derived from chiaroscuro that united bright and lush fields of color. At the same time, his paintings are distinguished by a certain abstract quality in the rendering of figures and by a tendency to dogmatize the artistic principles of the High Renaissance.

REFERENCES

Eliasberg, N. E. Andrea del’ Sarto. [Moscow, 1973.]
Shearman, J. Andrea del Sarto, vols. 1–2. Oxford, 1965.