 |
| Andrea del Sarto Exorcism of a Woman possessed by a Demon 1509-10 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Exorcism of a Woman possessed by a Demon (detail) 1509-10 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Exorcism of a Woman possessed by a Demon (detail) 1509-10 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Exorcism of a Woman possessed by a Demon (detail) 1509-10 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Exorcism of a Woman possessed by a Demon (detail) 1509-10 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Birth of the Virgin 1513-14 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Birth of the Virgin (detail) 1513-14 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Birth of the Virgin (detail) 1513-14 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Death of St Philip Benizi and Resurrection of a Child (detail) 1510 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Death of St Philip Benizi and Resurrection of a Child (detail) 1510 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Devotion of the Florentine People to the Relics of St Philip Benizi 1510 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Devotion of the Florentine People to the Relics of St Philip Benizi (detail) 1510 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Devotion of the Florentine People to the Relics of St Philip Benizi (detail) 1510 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
"At length after the Lives of many craftsmen who have been excellent, some in colouring, some in drawing, and others in invention, we have come to the most excellent Andrea del Sarto, in whose single person nature and art demonstrated all that painting can achieve by means of draughtsmanship, colouring, and invention, insomuch that, if Andrea had possessed a little more fire and boldness of spirit, to correspond to his profound genius and judgment in his art, without a doubt he would have had no equal. But a certain timidity of spirit and a sort of humility and simplicity in his nature made it impossible that there should be seen in him that glowing ardour and that boldness which, added to his other qualities, would have made him truly divine in painting; for which reason he lacked those adornments and that grandeur and abundance of manners which have been seen in many other painters. His figures, however, for all their simplicity and purity, are well conceived, free from errors, and absolutely perfect in every respect. The expressions of his heads, both in children and in women, are gracious and natural, and those of men, both young and old, admirable in their vivacity and animation; his draperies are beautiful to a marvel, and his nudes very well conceived. And although his drawing is simple, all that he coloured is rare and truly divine."
– from Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giorgio Vasari (1568), translated by Gaston du C. de Vere (1912)
 |
| Andrea del Sarto Devotion of the Florentine People to the Relics of St Philip Benizi (detail) (central figure is reputed self-portrait) 1510 fresco Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence |
 |
| Andrea del Sarto The Last Supper 1520-25 fresco Museo del Cenacolo di San Salvi, Florence |