and then that sovereign consented. Francis also gave the artist a large
sum of money to buy for him all sorts of beautiful objects.

When Andrea reached Florence his wife refused to go to France, and
persuaded him to give her the king's money. She soon spent it, and Andrea,
who lived ten years more, was very unhappy, while the king never forgave
him, and to this day this wretched story must be told, and continues the
remembrance of his dishonesty. After all he had sacrificed for his wife,
when he became very ill, in 1530, of some contagious disease, she deserted
him. He died alone, and with no prayer or funeral was buried in the
Convent of the Nunziata, where he had painted some of his frescoes.

[Illustration: FIG. 41.--THE MADONNA DEL SACCO. _By Andrea del Sarto._]

His pictures are very numerous; they are correct in drawing, very softly
finished, and have a peculiar gray tone of color. He painted a great
number of Holy Families, one of which is called the "Madonna del Sacco,"
because St. Joseph is leaning on a sack (Fig. 41). This is in the convent
where he is buried. His best work is called the "Madonna di San Francesco"
and hangs in the tribune of the Uffizi Gallery. This is a most honorable
place, for near it are pictures by Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian, and
other great painters, as well as some very celebrated statues, such as the
"Venus de Medici" and the "Dancing Faun." Andrea del Sarto's pictures of
the Madonna and Child are almost numberless; they are sweet, attractive
works, as are also his St. Barbara, St. Agnes, and others of his single
figures.

We will now leave the Florentine school of the sixteenth century, and
speak of the great master of the Roman school, RAPHAEL SANZIO, or SANTI
(1483-1520), who was born at Urbino on Good Friday. His father was a
painter, and Raphael showed his taste for art very early in life. Both his
parents died while he was still a child, and though he must have learned
something from seeing his father and other painters at their work, we say
that Perugino was his first master, for he was but twelve years old when
he entered the studio of that painter in Perugia.

Here he remained more than eight years, and about the time of leaving
painted the very celebrated picture called "Lo Sposalizio," or the
Marriage of the Virgin, now in the Brera at Milan. This picture is famous
the world over, and is very important in the life of the painter, because
it shows the highest point h