LX1011. Christmas, 1980

Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) also called “The Faultless Painter”.

The son of Agnolo di Francesco, a tailor, he was the last great classical painter in Florence (1486-1530), before the birth of Mannerism.
The pupil of Piero di Cosimo, he was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael and was a purely classical painter. According to Vasari, he could draw "perfectly" and combined Roman formalism and Leonardo's soft shading with the luminous colors of the Veneto region, thus showing his interest in research and the doubts that were to lead to Mannerism. It is hardly a surprise to find that Pontormo, Rosso and Giorgio Vasari studied in his workshop. He carried out more than one series of frescoes: he painted scenes from the life of St. Filippo Benizzi (1510) in the Cloister dei Voti in the Annunziata, and, after two probable trips to Rome, scenes from the Life of Mary (1514 c.) and the lunette of the Madonna of the Bag (1525), one of his finest works.

Date of issue: 22 December 1980

Design: after Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530)

Engraving: Jean de Vos

Printing & editor: Rodan, Brussels

Size engraving: 33 x 48 mm.

Circulation: limited edition between 400 and 700*

* These etching where printed on a double folded mould-made paper sheet, on the inside the Christmas wishes were written or printed (see underneath an example). Some people kept the left side of this card, which made the “luxury sheet”; it goes without saying that the majority many were lost or damaged in the mail.

LX1011. Imperforated luxury sheet, blue. 200F

Etching on mould-made paper

There are no variations or curiosities known for none of the above shown material.