In 1531 Andrea del Sarto died of the plague. As he lay on his deathbed Lucrezia fled from the house for fear of infection. Yet he left her all his property, and, so far as known, never ceased to believe in her. Lucrezia lived forty years after the death of her husband. A former pupil of Andrea’s was at work one day copying frescos, when a withered old woman came into the hall. She asked him who had painted the fresco. He replied, “Andrea del Sarto.” “I was the original of that angel,” she said. “I was Lucrezia Fedi, the wife of Andrea del Sarto.” Even to the last she was proud of the husband whom she had deserted on his deathbed, and whose genius she alone had dwarfed. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, NO. 28, SERIAL NO. 28 [Illustration: THE VIRGIN ADORING THE CHILD. BY FRA FILIPPO LIPPI PAINTED FROM LUCREZIA BUTI] _THE WIFE IN ART_ _Fra Lippo Lippi and Lucrezia Buti_ TWO The painter of divine beauties, Filippo Lippi, or as he is often called, Fra Lippo Lippi, was not himself a handsome man. He had rather a full face, large features, and thick lips. Laziness and love were always interfering with his work. As a result of extravagance he was usually in debt, and not always careful to get out honestly. Yet the people of his time were kind-hearted enough to overlook boyish faults in an artist who brought so much renown to their country. Filippo was born into a Florentine butcher’s family about 1402, and his father died soon afterward. He seems to have had little care from his mother, who may, however, have died during his infancy. An aunt took care of him; but, finding the boy too great a burden for her slender means, turned him over to be educated by the Carmelite friars. The abbot was lenient; for he had the wisdom to see that a boy who drew pictures all over the walls and on his books when he should have been studying would probably become an artist. Artists were highly thought of in those days, when the church taught by means of pictures. Filippo, therefore, never learned to write good Latin. He studied the frescos of the chapel instead. Later, when he had finished his studies and gained a name for himself among painters, the abbot granted him permission to leave the monastery in order to give his genius full scope. Monks who had learned to paint were often allowed this privilege.