Andrea del Sarto was born Andrea d'Agnolo di Francesco di Luca di Paolo del Migliore in Florence on July 16, 1486.
Since his father, Agnolo, was a tailor (sarto), he became known as "del Sarto" ("tailor's son").
Since 1677 some have attributed the surname Vannucchi with little documentation.
By 1494 Andrea was apprenticed to a goldsmith, and then to a woodcarver and painter named Gian Barile, with whom he remained until 1498.
According to Vasari, he then apprenticed to Piero di Cosimo, and later with Raffaellino del Garbo (Carli).
Andrea and an older friend, Franciabigio, decided in 1508 to open a joint studio at a lodging together in the Piazza del Grano.
The first product of their partnership may have been the Baptism of Christ for the Florentine Compagnia dello Scalzo, the beginning of a monochrome fresco series.
By the time the partnership was dissolved, Sarto's style bore the stamp of individuality.
From 1509 to 1514 the brotherhood of the Servites had employed Sarto, Franciabigio, and Andrea Feltrini in a program of frescoes at Basilica della Santissima Annunziata di Firenze.
Sarto completed three frescoes in the portico of the Servite convent illustrating the Life of Filippo Benizzi, a Servite saint who died in 1285.
He executed them rapidly, depicting the saint sharing his cloak with a leper, cursing some gamblers, and restoring a girl possessed with a devil.
These paintings have met with respect, the correctness of the contours being particularly admired, and earned for Sarto the nickname of "Andrea senza errori" (Andrea the perfect).
After these, the painter depicted in two frescoes the death of S. Filippo and then children cured by touching his garment; all five works were completed before the close of 1510.
The Servites engaged him to do two more frescoes in the forecourt of the Annunziata: a Procession of the Magi (or Adoration, containing a self-portrait) finished in 1511.
Towards 1512 he painted an Annunciation in the monastery of S. Gallo and a Marriage of Saint Catherine (Dresden).
Andrea had finished his last two frescoes by 1514, including his masterpiece, the Birth of the Virgin, which fuses the influence of Leonardo, Ghirlandaio and Fra Bartolomeo.
By November 1515 he had finished at the Scalzo the Allegory of Justice and the Baptist preaching in the desert.
