Andrea del Sarto and the Pala di Gambassi: Painting, Friendship and Patronage

A late altarpiece Andrea del Sarto’s Madonna and Child with Saints Onofrio, Lawrence, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, Roch and Sebastian, generally known as the Pala di Gambassi, belongs to the last years of a career that had placed him at the centre of Florentine painting. Now in the Galleria Palatina at Palazzo Pitti, theContinue reading “Andrea del Sarto and the Pala di Gambassi: Painting, Friendship and Patronage”

Leonardo and Isabella d’Este: The Life of a Drawing

Isabella d’Este and Leonardo Isabella d’Este was born in Ferrara in 1474, the daughter of Ercole I d’Este and Eleonora d’Aragona, and in 1490 married Francesco II Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua. Her position at the Mantuan court involved political as well as dynastic responsibilities, while her collecting and patronage brought her into sustained contact withContinue reading “Leonardo and Isabella d’Este: The Life of a Drawing”

Raphael (1483–1520): Drawings for the Vault of the Stanza di Eliodoro

The drawings considered here converge around Raphael’s decoration of the vault of the Stanza di Eliodoro. Their significance lies not only in the light they cast on the completed frescoes, but also in what they reveal about Raphael’s working practice, his movement between projects, his responsiveness to different visual sources and his adaptation of drawingContinue reading “Raphael (1483–1520): Drawings for the Vault of the Stanza di Eliodoro”