Andrea
del Sarto(b Florence, 16 July 1486; d Florence,
29 Sept 1530).
Italian painter and draughtsman. He was
the leading painter in Florence in the early years of
the 16th century, and, under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Bartolommeo, Michelangelo and Raphael, he
elaborated and perfected the classical style of the High
Renaissance. In the second decade of the 16th century
his art anticipated aspects of Mannerism, while his
direct, immediate works of the 1520s became important
models for the more naturalistic Tuscan artists of the
Counter-Reformation. He painted mainly religious works,
including both altarpieces and major cycles of frescoes.
His portraits, distinguished by a dreamily poetic
quality, are among the most individual of the High
Renaissance.