while in youths and old men it is full of life and animation.
The draperies of this master are beautiful to a marvel,
and the nude figures are admirably executed, the drawing is simple,
the coloring is most exquisite, nay, it is truly divine."

Mr. Ernest Radford, quoting this passage, in the Browning Society's
`Illustrations to Browning's Poems', remarks that "nearly the whole
POEM of `Andrea del Sarto' is a mere translation into
the SUBJECTIVE Mood (if I may so say) of this passage in which
the painter's work is criticised from an external standpoint. . . .

"Recent researches into Andrea's life throw doubt upon a good deal
that Vasari has written concerning the unhappiness of his marriage
and the manner of his death. And the biographer himself modifies,
in his second edition, the account he had given of the fair Lucrezia.
Vasari, it should be said, was a pupil of Andrea, and therefore must,
in this instance, have had special opportunities of knowledge,
though he may, on the same account, have had some special `animus'
when he wrote. For the purposes of his poem, Browning is content
to take the traditional account of the matter, which, after all,
seems to substantially accurate. The following is from
the first edition:--

"At that time there was a most beautiful girl in Via di San Gallo,
who was married to a cap-maker, and who, though born of a poor
and vicious father, carried about her as much pride and haughtiness,
as beauty and fascination. She delighted in trapping the hearts
of men, and amongst others ensnared the unlucky Andrea,
whose immoderate love for her soon caused him to neglect the studies
demanded by his art, and in great measure to discontinue the assistance
which he had given to his parents.

"Certain pictures of Andrea's which had been painted for
the King of France were received with much favor, and an invitation
to Andrea soon followed their delivery, to `go and paint
at the French Court'. He went accordingly, and `painted proudly',
as Browning relates, and prospered every way. But one day,
being employed on the figure of a St. Jerome doing penance,
which he was painting for the mother of the King, there came to him
certain letters from Florence; these were written him by his wife;
and from that time (whatever may have been the cause) he began
to think of leaving France. He asked permission to that effect
from the French King accordingly, saying that he desired to
return to Florenc