The great Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530) rivals Leonardo da Vinci as one of history’s most accomplished draftsmen. Moving beyond the graceful elegance of his contemporaries, such as Raphael and Fra Bartolommeo, he brought unprecedented realism to his drawings through the rough and rustic use of chalk in his powerfully rendered life and compositional studies. With an immediacy few other Renaissance artists possess, del Sarto’s work has proven to be inspirational and compelling to later audiences, with admirers such as Degas and Redon.

This lavishly illustrated book reveals del Sarto's dazzling inventiveness and creative process, presenting fifty core drawings on paper together with a handful of paintings. The first publication to look to del Sarto’s working practice through a close examination of his art from across all the world’s major collections, this volume analyzes new studies of his panel underdrawings as well. The depth and breadth of its research make this book an important contribution to the study of del Sarto and Florentine Renaissance workshop practice.

This volume is published to accompany an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum from June 23 through September 13, 2015, and at the Frick Collection in New York from October 6, 2015, though January 10, 2016.

• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Lenders to the Exhibition
• Timeline
• INTRODUCTION, Julian Brooks
• INVENTION AND COMPOSITION
  • A Perfectionist Revealed: The Resourceful Methods of Andrea del Sarto, Yvonne Szafran and Sue Ann Chui
  • Drawings by Andrea del Sarto after Ancient and Modern Sources, Dominique Cordellier
  • The Red-Chalk Drawings of Andrea del Sarto: Linear Form and Luminous Naturalism, Marzia Faietti
• ANDREA DEL SARTO, DRAFTSMAN PAINTER | CATALOGUE 1–40
  • Portraits (cat. 1–8), Xavier F. Salomon
  • Planning on Paper (cat. 9–18), Julian Brooks
  • Rendering Reality (cat. 19–40), Julian Brooks
• FIORENTINITÀ IN ANDREA DEL SARTO’S LIFE AND DEATH
  • The Shortcomings of the “Pittore Senza Errori”: Andrea del Sarto in Vasari’s Lives, Sanne Wellen
  • Andrea del Sarto in the Medici Collections, Alessandro Cecchi
• THE CONVERGENCE OF DRAWING AND PAINTING | CATALOGUE 41–55
  • The Madonna of the Steps (cat. 41–47), Julian Brooks
  • Saint John the Baptist (cat. 48–49), Denise Allen
  • The Sacrifice of Isaac (cat. 50–52), Julian Brooks, with an Appendix by Marcia Steele
  • The Medici Holy Family (cat. 53–55), Julian Brooks
• Checklist of Works in the Exhibition
• Bibliography
• Index

Julian Brooks is senior curator and head of the Department of Drawings at the J. Paul Getty Museum and is the author of many books, most recently William Blake: Visionary (2020) and The Lure of Italy: Artists’ Views (2017).

Denise Allen, formerly curator of Renaissance paintings and sculpture at The Frick Collection, New York, is now curator in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Xavier F. Salomon is Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator at The Frick Collection, New York