between Andrea and Raphael that
follows, the kernel of the poem.

Like Leonardo and Rustici, Andrea accepted, in 1518, an invitation from
Francis I to visit Paris and once there began to paint for that royal
patron. But although his wife did not love him, she wanted him back,
and in the midst of his success he returned, taking with him a large
sum of money from Francis with which to buy for the king works of
art in Italy. That money he misapplied to his own extravagant ends,
and although Francis took no punitive steps, the event cannot have
improved either Andrea's position or his peace of mind; while it
caused Francis to vow that he had done with Florentines. Andrea died
in 1531, of fever, nursed by no one, for his wife, fearing it might
be the dreaded plague, kept away.

CHAPTER XIX

The SS. Annunziata and the Spedale degli Innocenti

Andrea del Sarto again--Franciabigio outraged--Alessio
Baldovinetti--Piero de' Medici's church--An Easter Sunday
congregation--Andrea's "Madonna del Sacco"--"The Statue and
the Bust"--Henri IV--The Spedale degli Innocenti--Andrea della
Robbia--Domenico Ghirlandaio--Cosimo I and the Etruscans--Bronzes and
tapestries--Perugino's triptych--S. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi--"Very
sacred human dust".

From S. Marco it is an easy step, along the Via Sapienza, to the
Piazza dell' Annunziata, where one finds the church of that name,
the Palazzo Riccardi-Mannelli, and opposite it, gay with the famous
della Robbia reliefs of swaddled children, the Spedale degli Innocenti.

First the church, which is notable for possessing in its courtyard
Andrea del Sarto's finest frescoes. This series, of which he was the
chief painter, with his friend Franciabigio again as his principal
ally, depict scenes in the life of the Virgin and S. Filippo. The
scene of the Birth of the Virgin has been called the triumph of
fresco painting, and certainly it is very gay and life-like in
that medium. The whole picture very charming and easy, with the
pleasantest colouring imaginable and pretty details, such as the
washing of the baby and the boy warming his hands, while of the two
women in the foreground, that on the left, facing the spectator,
is a portrait of Andrea's wife, Lucrezia. In the Arrival of the
Magi we find Andrea himself, the figure second from the right-hand
side, pointing; while next to him, on the left, is his friend Jacopo
Sansovino. The "Dead Man Restored to Life by S. Filippo" is Andrea's