Andrea del Sarto spouse Lucrezia del Fede
Visit to France
Before the end of 1516, a Pietà of Del Sarto's composition, and afterwards a Madonna, were sent to the French Court. This led to an invitation from François I, in 1518, and he journeyed to Paris in June of that year, along with his pupil Andrea Squarzzella, leaving his wife, Lucrezia, in Florence.According to Giorgio Vasari, Andrea's pupil and biographer, Lucrezia wrote to Andrea and demanded he return to Italy. The King assented, but only on the understanding that his absence from France was to be short.  He then entrusted Andrea with a sum of money to be expended in purchasing works of art for the French Court.  By Vasari's account, 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. The story inspired Robert Browning's poem-monologue "Andrea del Sarto Called the 'Faultless Painter'" (1855), but is now believed by some historians to be apocryphal.Personal life
Andrea married Lucrezia (del Fede), widow of a hatter named Carlo, of Recanati, on 26 December 1512.  Lucrezia appears in many of his paintings, often as a Madonna.  However, Vasari describes her as "faithless, jealous, and vixenish with the apprentices".  She is similarly characterized in Robert Browning's poem.
Andrea died in Florence at age 44 during an outbreak of Bubonic Plague at the end of September 1530.  He was buried unceremoniously by the Misericordia in the church of the Servites.  In Lives of the Artists, Vasari claimed Andrea received no attention at all from his wife during his terminal illness.  However, it was well known at the time that plague was highly contagious, so it has been speculated that Lucrezia was simply afraid to contract the virulent and frequently-fatal disease.  If true, this well-founded caution was rewarded, as she survived her husband by 40 years.
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