The siege was now over, but the influx of soldiers from the camp
brought a return of the plague, which awakened great terror in the
city. Andrea's mode of life and love of good living did not conduce to
his safety; he was taken ill suddenly, and gave himself up for lost.
Neither Vasari nor Biadi says he was entirely deserted by his wife;
they only hint that she came to his room as little as she could, having
a great fear of the plague.
It is more than probable that Andrea himself kept her away from him,
for his love was always unselfish, and he thought only of her good.
However this be, he died, aged forty-two, on the 22nd of January, 1531,
and was buried very quietly by the "Brethren of the Scalzo" in the
church of the S. Annunziata. His tomb is beneath the pavement of the
presbytery, on the left hand. His older biographers seem to think this
unostentatious funeral a great slight to his merits, but if there were
any doubts as to his illness being the plague, it would only have been
a natural precaution to avoid spreading contagion by making his
interment quite private.
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