Anthology of Ideas

Andrea del Sarto, in the poem of the same name by Browning, has all the basic elements of a happy life, but he accepts all the aspects of his life that drain him and leave him passionless; thus, accentuating his lack of an artist’s soul. Some, including Andrea, blame his unhappiness and inability to achieve fame on his wife, Lucrezia, but his unhappiness and lack of fame come from his disconnection from the passionate aspects of the world, something that evidences itself in his method of speaking, his paintings, and his marriage.

Andrea del Sarto, in the poem of the same name by Browning, has all the basic elements of a happy life, but he accepts all the aspects of his life that drain him and leave him passionless; thus, accentuating his lack of an artist’s soul. Some, including Andrea, blame his unhappiness and inability to achieve fame on his wife, Lucrezia, but his unhappiness and lack of fame come from his disconnection from the passionate aspects of the world, something that evidences itself in his method of speaking, his paintings, and his marriage.