ANDREA DEL SARTO
(b. 1486, Firenze, d. 1530, Firenze)

Madonna del sacco (Madonna with the Sack)

1525
Fresco, 191 x 403 cm
Santissima Annunziata, Florence

Returning to the quarter of the SS. Annunziata after the plague, in 1525 Andrea painted one of his most celebrated works in the great cloister, known as the "Chiostro dei morti". It is considered to be the ultimate masterpiece of Andrea del Sarto's classicism. The solemn equilibrium, the quality of repose and grandeur, the supreme elegance of this scene illustrating the Rest during the Flight into Egypt, classically framed by the high step and the two pilasters, but laid out in an unconventional manner, make this fresco one of the loftiest achievements of the late phase of Andrea's art. The influence of Michelangelo (a number of figures on the vault of the Sistine Chapel are mentioned as prototypes) are elements in a language which is totally personal, powerful and mature.