Andrea Del Sorte
Andrea del Sarto’s Failure as a Great Artist Leads to His Self -Destruction Browning’s dramatic monologue is based on Andrea del Sarto, a historical Renaissance painter. Andrea laments on his career throughout the poem and rationalizes all the failures in his life that have kept him from fulfilling his promise as an artist. Andrea del Sarto is presented as a defeated and melancholy man who blames his disappointing life on everything, but himself. Andrea’s love-life and art career are intertwined because they are both reasons Andrea’s dissatisfied and un-fulfilled with his life. Andrea loves his wife because she endures his dismal behavior. Lucrezia loves Andrea because he gives her everything she wants, and also gives her complete freedom. Lucrezia also serves as Andrea’s device to insure his own failures as an artist. Without Lucrezia, Andrea would still not be a famous artist. ... Andrea del Sarto lived and worked in Florence and was later appointed court painter by Francis, the King of France. Andrea dismissed his days in France working for the King, because he disliked painting for him. The watchful eye of Francis annoyed Andrea. ... Pressured to leave his job, Andrea left the French court to follow his wife Lucrezia to Italy. ... But really, Andrea had no plans of returning. ... Andrea spent all of the money he had stolen on a house for himself and his wife in Italy and never returned to France. Andrea talks to his wife Lucrezia of his relative successes and failures at the beginning of the poem.