The New Student's Reference Work/Sarto, Andrea del

Sar′to, Andrea del, a painter of Florence, where he was born in 1487 or 1486.  His family name was Vannucchi, but he was nicknamed Del Sarto — the tailor’s son — from his father’s business.  He painted two series of frescos in Florence, the best of the first series being Nativity of the Virgin and Journey of the Three Kings.  He spent a year in Paris at the invitation of Francis I, and was very popular among the French.  The most celebrated of his single pictures are the Last Supper, the Madonna with the Harpies and Fathers of the Church Disputing.  Del Sarto was a rapid worker, and excelled in accurate drawing.  Michael Angelo rated him highly.  He died at Florence in 1531.  See Crowe and Cavalcaselle’s Painting in Italy.