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Giorgio Vasari
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters,
Sculptors, and Architects
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Giorgio Vasari |
The Lives of the Artists |
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see collection:
Andrea del Sarto
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Andrea del Sarto
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Madonna and Child with the Young St John
c. 1518
Oil on canvas, 154 x 101 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome
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One of Piero di Cosimo's pupils was Andrea del Sarto, the son of
a tailor, who took his name from his father's trade. At the age of
seven years he was put with a goldsmith, but Gian Barile, a
Florentine painter, seeing his drawings, took him to work with him.
After three years' earnest study, Gian Barile perceived that the boy
would have extraordinary success if he attended to his studies, and
he spoke of him to Piero di Cosimo, who was then considered one of
the best painters in Florence, and put him under his care. Andrea,
desirous to learn, never rested from his studies, and being a born
painter, he managed his colours as if he had worked for fifty years.
So Piero loved him much, and was wonderfully pleased to hear that
whenever he had time, especially on feastdays, he would spend it in
the hall of the Pope, where were the cartoons of Michael Angelo and
Lionardo da Vinci, and that he surpassed, though young, all the
other artists, natives or strangers, who came constantly to study
there. Among these Andrea was most pleased with the conversation of
Francia Bigio, and Francia being equally so with Andrea, they became
friends; and Andrea told Francia that he could endure no longer the
eccentricities of Piero, who was then getting old, and that he must
take a room for himself. Francia being forced to do the same,
because Mariotto Albertinelli, his master, had given up painting,
proposed that they should join together. So they took a room in the
Piazza del Grano, and did many works 1n company. Afterwards they
took new rooms near the convent of the Nunziata, and it happened
that Jacopo Sansovino, then a youth, was working in the same place
under Andrea Contucci, and he and Andrea formed so close a
friendship that they were never apart day or night; and as all their
conversation was about art it is no wonder that they both became
excellent masters.
In the convent of the Servites there was a sacristan named Fra
Mariano, who constantly hearing Andrea praised and spoken of as one
making marvellous progress, thought to get something out of him at
little expense. So to try Andrea, who was soft and pliable where
honour was concerned, he began to express a wish to help him
in a matter which would bring him honour and profit. Now some years
before, Cosimo Rosselli had begun in the first cloister a picture of
S. Filippo, the founder of the order, taking the habit of monk, but
the picture was not finished when he died. The friar, therefore,
wishing the rest to be painted, thought by making Andrea and Francia
rivals, to get it at less expense. So opening his mind to Andrea, he
persuaded him to undertake it, pointing out that it was a public
place and much frequented, and he would become known to strangers as
well as Florentines; he ought not therefore to consider the price,
and if he would not do it there was Francia, who had offered to do
it and left the price to him. The first suggestions inclined Andrea
to undertake it, but when he heard of Francia he resolved at once,
and an agreement was made in writing that no one else might
interfere. So the friar having set him to work, he was first to
finish the life of S. Filippo, having no more than ten ducats for
each picture, which the friar said he gave him out of his own money,
more for his good than for the profit of the convent. But when he
had painted one side of the cloisters, finding the price too little,
and that they made too much of the honour, he determined to give up
the rest of the work, at which the friar complained greatly, and
held him to his agreement. So Andrea promised to do two more if he
would raise the price. Francia Bigio meanwhile was entrusted with
the painting in the cloister, and represented there the Marriage of
the Virgin. The friars, desiring that Andrea's and Francia's
pictures should be uncovered for a certain feast, on the night that
Francia had finished his they presumptuously went and uncovered it
themselves, not understanding that Francia might retouch it. In the
morning the news was brought to Francia that his work and Andrea's
had been uncovered, and it grieved him almost to death. But falling
into a passion with the friars for their presumption in showing him
so little respect, he rushed to his picture, and climbing on to the
scaffold, which had not yet been taken down, seized a mason's hammer
which was lying there and struck at some of the women's faces,
spoiling the Virgin's altogether. The friars and others, running in
at the noise, held his hands to prevent his spoiling the whole
picture. But although they offered him double payment he would never
mend it, and he was so much honoured that no other would ever finish
it. So the work remained in this state.
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Madonna of the Harpies
1517
Oil on wood, 208 x 178 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence |
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These works brought Andrea into greater notice, and many pictures
and works of importance were entrusted to him, and he made for
himself so great a name in the city that he was considered one of
the first painters, and although he had asked little for his works
he found himself in a position to help his relatives. But falling in
love with a young woman who was left a widow, he took her for his
wife, and had enough todo all the rest of his life, and had to work
harder than he had ever done before, for besides the duties and
liabilities which belong to such a union, he took upon him many more
troubles, being constantly vexed with jealousy and Dne thing and
another. And all who knew his case felt compassion for him, and
blamed the simplicity which had reduced him to such a condition. He
had been much sought after by his friends before, but now ke was
avoided. For though his pupils stayed with him, hoping to learn
something from him, there was not one, great or small, who did not
suffer by her evil words or blows during the time he was there.
Nevertheless, this torment seemed to him the highest pleasure. He
never put a woman in any picture which he did not draw from her, for
even if another sat to him, through seeing her constantly and having
drawn her so often, and, what is more, having her impressed on his
mind, it always came about that the head resembled hers.
A certain Florentine, Giovanni Battista Puccini, being
extraordinarily pleased with Andrea's work, charged him to paint a
picture of our Lady to send to France, but it was so beautiful that
he kept it himself and did not send it away. However, trafficking
constantly with France, and being employed to send good pictures
there, he gave Andrea another picture to paint, a dead Christ
supported by angels. When it was done every one was so pleased with
it that Andrea was entreated to let it be engraved in Rome by
Agostino Veniziano, but as it did not succeed very well he would
never let any other of his pictures be engraved. The picture itself
gave no less pleasure in France than it had done in Italy, and the
king gave orders that Andrea should do another, in consequence of
which he resolved at his friend's persuasion to go himself to
France. But that year ISI5 the Florentines, hearing that Pope Leo X.
meant to honour his native place with a visit, gave orders that he
should be received with great feasting, and such magnificent
decorations were prepared, with arches, statues, and other
ornaments, as had never been seen before, there being at that time
in the city a greate~ number of men of genius and talent than there
had ever been before. And what was most admired was the facade of S.
Maria del Fiore, made of wood and painted with pictures by Andrea
del Sarto, the architecture being by Jacopo Sansovino, with some
basreliefs and statues, and the Pope pronounced that it could not
have been more beautiful if it had been in marble.
Meanwhile King Francis I., greatly admiring his works, was told
that Andrea would easily be persuaded to remove to France and enter
into his service; and the thing pleased the king well. So he gave
command that money should be paid him for his journey; and Andrea
set out joyfully for France, takillg with him Andrea Sguazzella his
pupil. And having arrived at the court, he was received lovingly by
the king, and before the first day was over experienced the
liberality of that magnanimous king, receiving gifts of money and
rich garments. He soon began to work, and won the esteem of the king
and the whole court, being caressed by all, so that it seemed to him
he had passed from a state of extreme unhappiness to the greatest
felicity. Among his first works he painted from life the Dauphin,
then only a few months old, and therefore in swaddling clothes, and
when he brought it to the king he received for it three hundred
crowns of gold. And the king, that he might stay with him willingly,
ordered that great provision should be made for him, and that he
should want for nothing. But one day, while he was working upon a S.
Jerome for the king's mother, there came to him letters from
Lucrezia his wife, whom he had left in Florence, and she wrote that
when he was away, although his letters told her he was well, she
could not cease from sorrow and constant weeping, using many sweet
words apt to touch the heart of a man who loved her only too well,
so that the poor man was nearly beside himself when he read that if
he did not return soon he would find her dead. So he prayed the king
for leave to go to Florence and put his affairs in order, and bring
his wife to France, promising to bring with him on his return
pictures and sculptures of price. The king, trusting him, gave him
money for this purpose, and Andrea swore on the Gospels to return in
a few months. He arrived in Florence happily, and enjoyed himself
with his beautiful wife and his friends. At last, the time having
come when he ought to return to the king, he found himself in
extremity, for he had spent on building and on his pleasures his own
money and the king's also. Nevertheless he would have returned, but
the tears and prayers of his wife prevailed against his promise to
the king. When he did not return the king was so angered that for a
long time he would not look at a Florentine painter, and swore that
if ever Andrea fell into his hands, it should be to his hurt,
without regard to his talents.
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Stories of Joseph
c. 1520
Panel, 98,3 x 135 cm
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence |
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When Frederick II, Duke of Mantua, passed through Florence, going
to pay homage to Pope Clement VII., he saw over a door in the Medici
Palace that portrait of Pope Leo between Cardinal Giulio de' Medici
and Cardinal de' Rossi, which was made by the great Raffaello da
Urbino. Being extraordinarily pleased with it, he considered how he
could make it his own, and when he was in Rome, choosing his time,
he made request for it from Pope Clement, who granted it to him
courteously, and orders were sent to Florence to Ottaviano de'
Medici to put it into a case and send it to Mantua. But the thing
greatly displeased Ottaviano, who would not have Florence deprived
of such a picture. He replied therefore that he would not fail to
serve the duke, but that the frame of the picture being bad, he
would have a new one made, and when it was gilded, he would send the
picture securely to Mantua. Then Ottaviano, with the view, as we
say, of saving both the goat and its fodder, sent secretly for
Andrea and told him how matters stood, and that there was nothing
else to be done but to have the picture copied as fast as possible,
and to send the copy to the duke, secretly keeping the picture from
Raffaello's hand. So Andrea promised to do the best he could, and
having had a panel made of the same size, he worked at it secretly
in Ottaviano's house, and laboured to such effect that, when it was
finished, Ottaviano himself, who understood these things well, did
not know one from the other, Andrea having even copied some dirty
stains that were on the original. So having hidden Raffaello's
picture, they sent Andrea's to Mantua, and the duke was perfectly
satisfied. Even Giulio Romano the painter, Raffaello's disciple, did
not perceive the thing, and would always have believed it to be from
Raffaello's hand if Giorgio Vasari (who, being Ottaviano's
favourite, had seen Andrea working at the picture) had not
discovered the matter to him. For when Giorgio came to Mantua,
Giulio paid him much attention, and showed him the antiquities and
pictures, and among them this picture of Raffaello's, as the best
thing that was there; and Giorgio answered, "The work is most
beautiful, but not from the hand of Raffaello." "No?" said Giulio;
"do not I know, when I can recognize the touches that I put upon it
?" "You have forgotten," answered Giorgio, "for this is by Andrea
del Sarto, and in proof of it look at this sign (showing it to him),
which was put upon it in Florence, because the two being together
were mistaken the one for the other." When he heard this Giulio had
the picture turned round, and when he saw the countersign, he
shrugged his shoulders and said, "I esteem it none the less than if
it were from Raffaello's hand, rather the more, for it is a thing
beyond nature that a good painter should imitate so well another's
manner and make it so like."
Not long after, Baldo Magini of Prato, desiring to have a picture
painted for the Madonna della Carcere, among many other painters
Andrea was proposed to him, and Baldo, though he did not know much
about thc matter, was more inclined to him than any other, and had
already intimated to him that he would employ him, when a Niccolo
Soggi of Sansovino, having friends in Prato, was recommended so
strongly to Baldo that the work was given to him. Nevertheless
Andrea's friends sent for him, and he, thinking certainly the work
was to be his, went with Domenico Puligo and some other painters his
friends to Prato. But when he arrived he found that Niccolo had not
only turned Baldo against him, but was himself so daring and
insolent as to propose in the presence of Baldo that they should
make a wager who could paint the best picture. Andrea, knowing what
Niccolo was worth, answered (though he was generally a man of little
spirit), " 1 have this pupil of mine with me who has not been
studying long; if you like to have a wager with him, I will put down
the money for him; but nothing will make me consent to compete with
you, for if I were to win, it would be no honour to me, and if I
lost, it would be the greatest disgrace." Then telling Baldo that he
did right to give the work to Niccolo, for he would do it so that it
would please people going to market, he returned to Florence.
Here he was employed by Giacomo, a Servite friar, who, when
absolving a woman from a vow, had commanded her to have the figure
of our Lady painted over a door in the Nunziata. Finding Andrea, he
told him that he had this money to spend, and although it was not
much, it would be well done of him to undertake it; and Andrea,
being softhearted, was prevailed upon by the father's persuasions,
and painted in fresco our Lady with the Child in her arms, and St.
Joseph leaning on a sack. This picture needs none to praise it, for
all can see it to be a most rare work.
One day Andrea had been painting the intendant of the monks of
Vallombrosa, and when the work was done some of the colour was left
over, and Andrea, taking a tile, called Lucrezia, his wife, and
said, "Come here, for as this colour is left, I will paint you, that
it may be seen how well you are preserved for your age, and yet how
you have changed and how different you are from your first
portraits." But the woman, having some fancy or other, would not sit
still, and Andrea, as if he guessed that he was near his end, took a
mirror and painted himself instead so well that the portrait seems
alive. This portrait is still in possession of Lucrezia his wife.
During the siege of Florence some of the captains of the city
escaped, carrying with them the pay of their soldiers; therefore
Andrea was charged to paint them in the Piazza del Podesta, together
with some other citizens who had escaped and become rebels. That he
might not be nicknamed Andrea of the Hanged Men, as Andrea dal
Castagno had been, he gave it out that one of his pupils, Bernardo
del Buda, was doing it; but, having enclosed the place with a
hoarding, he used to go in and out by night, and carried out the
work with his own hand so well that the figures appeared alive. The
paintings on the facade of the old Mercatanzia were many years
afterwards covered with whitewash that they might not be seen.
After the siege was over, Florence was filled with the soldiers
from the camp, and some of the spearmen being ill with the plague
caused no little panic in the city, and in a short time the
infection spread. Either from the fear excited by it, or from having
committed some excess in eating after the privations of the siege,
Andrea one day fell ill, and taking to his bed, he died, it is said,
almost without any one perceiving it, without medicine and without
much care, for his wife kept as far from him as she could for fear
of the plague.
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Annunciation
1528
Oil on wood, 96 x 189 cm
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
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see collection:
Andrea del Sarto
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