Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530) Study of a Bearded Man in Profile, ca. 1526–27. Black chalk, possibly with gray wash, 8 9/16 x 7 1/8 inches. Galleria degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Florence. By permission of the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo.
Around 1510, it was tough for a painter to make it to the top of the Central Italian art heap. Consider the competition: Raphael, Leonardo & Michelangelo. In this time, Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) was sometimes ranked as Number 4. How he might have achieved that rank (if not precisely what he achieved) forms the substance of two related and absorbing current Manhattan museum exhibitions. Read More