Andrea del Sarto grew up poor, a tailor's son in Florence. From his boyhood he was placed with a well-known artist, and his gifts soon began to show themselves; he was able to win a name for himself and to secure for his family their bread and their needs.
Until he met Lucrezia del Fede...!
She was the wife of a hatter, and she was young, all allure and temptation; one contemporary described her by saying that her greatest pleasure was to captivate the hearts of men!
And Andrea allowed himself to be captivated...! He abandoned his art, left his parents, and consecrated himself to his mistress.
Not much time passed before the husband died suddenly, and without anyone knowing of what disease; and Andrea married his widow.
At that point Lucrezia began to reveal her true nature. She set about inflicting on her artist husband the cruelest kinds of torment, took to attacking his pupils and mocking them, and began to form liaisons
The Madonna and Child with Two Angels. The monk painted the picture, loved the nun who was his model, and carried her off... (Lippi)