Andrea Del Sarto ─ The Renaissance Workshop in Action

The great Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530) rivals Leonardo da Vinci as one of history’s most accomplished draftsmen. Moving beyond the graceful elegance of his contemporaries, such as Raphael and Fra Bartolommeo, he brought unprecedented realism to his drawings through the rough and rustic use of chalk in his powerfully rendered life and compositional studies. With an immediacy few other Renaissance artists possess, del Sarto’s work has proven to be inspirational and compelling to later audiences, with admirers such as Degas and Redon.

This lavishly illustrated book reveals del Sarto's dazzling inventiveness and creative process, presenting fifty core drawings on paper together with a handful of paintings. The first publication to look to del Sarto’s working practice through a close examination of his art from across all the world’s major collections, this volume analyzes new studies of his panel underdrawings as well. The depth and breadth of its research make this book an important contribution to the study of del Sarto and Florentine Renaissance workshop practice.

This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from June 23 through September 13, 2015, and at the Frick Collection in New York from October 6, 2015, though January 10, 2016.

Julian Brooks is curator in the Department of Drawings at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Denise Allen is curator of Renaissance paintings and sculpture at the Frick Collection, New York, where Xavier F. Salomon is Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator.