after Andrea del Sarto

Available for sale from Big Sky Fine Art in the English county of Dorset is this oil painting by an unknown artist of the Italian School dating from around 1863. The painting is signed Gianni.<br> The painting is a copy of a famous painting by Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530), a famous Florentine High Renaissance artist, created 1513-1515, which is of similar dimensions and is held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. For a long time, this was considered to be a self-portrait by Andrea del Sarto, but the subject is now widely recognised as his friend Baccio Bandinelli 1493-1560 who was a sculptor, draughtsman and painter. <br> The painting is offered in its original frame, which is consistent with this period.<br> This antique painting is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. It wants for nothing and is supplied ready to hang and display.<br> <br> The painting is a copy of a famous painting by Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530), a famous Florentine High Renaissance artist, created 1513-1515, which is of similar dimensions and is held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. For a long time, this was considered to be a self-portrait by Andrea del Sarto, but the subject is now widely recognised as his friend Baccio Bandinelli (1493-1560) who was a sculptor, draughtsman and painter. <br> <br> The painting we offer here is a superb example of the genre of works created for purchase by those undertaking the Grand Tour. Various other copies will exist; indeed, a very similar example, also accepted to be a copy of the painting in the Uffizi, is held in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore, US.<br> <br> The Grand Tour is a term used to describe the fashionable European trips undertaken by cultural and socially conscious tourists to the great centres of classical Renaissance and Baroque architecture, sculpture and painting. The cities generally visited included Paris, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Amsterdam and Antwerp. The earliest Grand tours took place in the early seventeenth century, but the fashion continued into the early nineteenth century. The Grand Tour was considered to be the best way for a gentleman to complete his education and was very popular with the nobility of Europe. As many of these tourists used the experience to purchase art and antiquities to decorate their homes, artists in Florence became adept in producing good quality copies of original works for this lucrative market. This was, in most cases, not an attempt to pass off art as anything other than a ‘good copy’ of the original and unobtainable work. Indeed, often details were included specifically to differentiate them from the original. The purpose was to use their own skills to produce a new original work in the style of the original. These ‘copy’ works have since become respected and highly collectable in their own right. The painting which is offered for sale here is an excellent example of this genre. <br> <br> © Big Sky Fine Art<br> <br> Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) was an Italian artist who came from Florence. He was known as ‘the faultless painter’ due to his exceptional technical abilities and perfection in capturing each figure and form in his master works. He was a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Andrea was born Andrea d’Agnolo di Francesco di Luca di Paolo del Migliore. His father was a tailor, which in Italian is ‘sarto’, so he became known as ‘del Sarto’. Andrea was apprenticed to a goldsmith, then a woodcarver, then two artists, Piero di Cosimo and Raffaellino del Garbo. He then set up a studio with an older friend called Franciabigio where they undertook many religious themed commissions. He was later employed by the Servite Order to complete a programme of frescos for churches. Some of his works brought him to the attention of the French King, François I and he left Florence to work for him in the French Court for a while. There is a story that he was requested to return to Florence, and the King agreed to this but only on the understanding that his absence would be short, and he entrusted Andrea with a sum of money to purchase works of art for the French Court. Apparently, Andrea took the money and used it to buy himself a house in Florence, thus ruining his reputation and preventing him from ever returning to France. This story inspired Robert Browning’s poem-monologue “Andrea del Sarto, the Faultless Painter”. Andrea del Sarto’s works are now much revered and held in major museums.<br> <br> © Big Sky Fine Art<br> <br> We provide a professional shipping and delivery service which is free to customers in the UK, Europe, USA and Canada. We can also provide other worldwide delivery on any purchase. Please contact us for further information.<br> <br> For UK deliveries, prices are inclusive of VAT. We will supply a VAT invoice under the margin scheme for Work of Art as per the HMRC definition.<br> <br> For deliveries outside of the UK you will be liable for any import duties to the country of destination and any local sales/consumer taxes applicable to the delivery address. We will ship the consignment with the appropriate harmonized commodity code and with a comprehensive invoice. The appropriate Common Customs Tariff number is 9701000000 if you need to check before purchasing. All duties and taxes, if any, will be collected by the courier or delivery company and they will charge a modest standard administration charge, including on Duty Free goods, for performing this function on your behalf.