Andrea Del Sarto

Andrea del Sarto by Emil Schaeffer is an art-historical monograph written in the early 20th century. It examines the life, works, and influence of the Florentine painter Andrea del Sarto, weighing what biography can explain against what the paintings themselves reveal. The study blends narrative and formal analysis, discussing his training, key commissions, signature style, and his lasting impact on later Florentine art. The opening of the monograph argues that artists are best understood through their works—yet makes an exception for Andrea, whose art and life are unusually entwined. It sketches his rise from a tailor’s son to a sought-after painter, his formative training with Piero di Cosimo and Michelangelo’s models, his early fresco cycles for the Annunziata and the Scalzo, and the fateful marriage to Lucrezia del Fede that, in Vasari’s telling, complicated his finances and choices. Schaeffer recounts Andrea’s celebrated invitation to the French court, his homesick return to Florence and misuse of royal funds, the plague retreat in Mugello, the San Salvi Last Supper spared during the siege, and his lonely death. The narrative then pivots to a concise critical portrait: Andrea’s mastery of fresco design, tonal harmony, and graceful drapery; his relative weakness at high drama; his engagement with Leonardo and Michelangelo; close readings of works like the Madonna delle Arpie, the Charitas, the Madonna del Sacco, and the St. John cycle; and a final note on his broad influence on later Florentines and even Baroque tendencies.