Annunziata. Andrea chose this because it was near
his work, and also because his great friends, Sansovino and Rustici,
already lived there. Commissions began to pour in on him, which he
fulfilled, while still at work at the Servi. Judging from the style of
his early manner, we may date at this time a _Virgin and Child, with
S. John and S. Joseph_, now in the Pitti. It is painted "alla
prima," _i.e._ a quick method of giving the effect in the first
painting,--and is probably the one spoken of by Vasari as painted for
Andrea Santini; it formerly belonged to Francesco Troschi. [Footnote:
_Life of Andrea del Sarto_, vol iii, p. 193.]
A _S. Agnes_, in the palace of the Prince Palatine, at Dusseldorf,
is in this early style. He also painted some frescoes at San Salvi,
_SS. Giovanni Gualberto and Benedict resting on clouds_; they
ornamented the recess where the _Last Supper_ was placed at a
later period.
In a narrow alley, behind the church of Or San Michele, is a tabernacle
on the wall beneath an ancient balcony. Here the architect, Baccio
d'Agnolo, commissioned Andrea del Sarto to paint an _Annunciation_.
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