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Historical Artist - Andrea Del Sarto (1486 - 1530)
Trained by Piero di Cosimo, Andrea Del Sarto earned the nickname “Andrea the
Unerring” during his career. After painting frescoes for the Brotherhood of the Servites
for several years, he was commissioned by Francois I in Paris. He returned to Florence and began
focusing on religious paintings and small portraits. Considered the best fresco painter of the
early 16th century, Andrea Del Sarto would have had a successful career had he not died of the
Plague at forty-four.
Perhaps the best known painting by Andrea del Sarto is the Madonna of the Harpies, a
depiction of the Virgin and child on a pedestal, flanked by angels and two saints (Bonaventure
or Francis; and John the Evangelist). Originally completed in 1517 for the convent of San
Francesco dei Macci, the altarpiece is displayed in a privileged location 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 painters of his
century. The figures have a Leonardo-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, but there is an
elegance that is lacking in the more sculptural paintings of other contemporaries.
Contemporary Italian Artists
Art Galleries in Italy
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