Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574)
Author of The Lives of the Artists
About the Author
Giorgio Vasari was born in Arezzo, Italy on July 30, 1511. He was an architect, painter, and writer. He was the architect for the Uffizi in Florence and the church, monastery, and palace created for the Cavalieri di San Stefano in Pisa. His murals can be seen at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. show more During his travels, Vasari took notes on various artists and paintings he encountered which resulted in his book, The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptures. He also wrote biographies of Italian Renaissance artists. He died on June 27, 1574. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Please try to keep the complete - usually multi volume set - editions separate from the selections / abridged editions.
Image credit: Self Portrait. Public domain
Series
Works by Giorgio Vasari
The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (Modern Library Classics ∙ Jacks) (2006) 106 copies, 1 review
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Everyman's Library Classics) (v. 1) (1942) 69 copies, 1 review
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Everyman's Library Classics) (v. 2) (1942) 51 copies, 1 review
Lives Of The Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, And Architects (Modern Library, Linscott) (1959) 34 copies
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Everyman's Library Classics) (v. 4) (1927) 26 copies, 1 review
De levens van de grootste schilders, beeldhouwers en architecten. [Dl. 1]: Van Cimabue tot Giorgione (1990) 21 copies
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Everyman's Library Classics) (v. 3) (1927) 11 copies
Vite 7 copies
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects - Vol. 01 (of 10), Cimabue to Agnolo Gaddi (2012) 5 copies
The lives of the artists. Vol. 1 5 copies
Kunstgeschichte und Kunsttheorie: Eine Einführung in die Lebensbeschreibung berühmter Künstler (2004) 4 copies
Lives of Giovanni Bellini: Vasari, Ridolfi and the d'Este correspondence (Lives of the Artists) (2018) 3 copies
Artists of the Renaissance: 2 3 copies
Great Lives by Great Writers 3 copies
Penguin Classics 2 copies
Capricci e anedotti 2 copies
Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol 10 (of 10) Bronzino to Vasari, & General Index. (2011) 2 copies
Jeder nach seinem Kopf. Die verrücktesten Künstlergeschichten der italienischen Renaissance (2008) 2 copies
These splendid painters 2 copies
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, Vol. 5 of 5 (Classic Reprint) (2013) 2 copies
Vie des grands artistes 2 copies
Lo zibaldone di Giorgio Vasari 2 copies
Les peintres toscans 2 copies
Vidas de artistas ilustres 1 copy
Lebensläufe 1 copy
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 04 (of 10), Filippino Lippi to Domenico Puligo (2012) 1 copy
6: Testo 1 copy
Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors, and architects: tr. from the Italian of Giorgio Vasari Volume 3 (2018) 1 copy
2: Testo 1 copy
3: Testo 1 copy
4: Testo 1 copy
5: Testo 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori, nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568 1 copy, 1 review
Le vite de' pi ̮eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568 Testo 1 copy, 1 review
The Lives of the Artists 1 copy
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 05 ( of 10) Andrea da Fiesole to Lorenzo Lotto (2012) 1 copy
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 03 (of 10), Filarete and Simone to Mantegna (2012) 1 copy
View of Florence 1 copy
GUIDA FOTOGRAFICA 1 copy
Vasari: Lime Plaster & Paint 1 copy
Vasari LivesOfArtists 1 copy
da Le Vite 1 copy
Lives of the artists 1 copy
Le Vite, Volume Primo 1 copy
Le Vite, Voume Terzo 1 copy
Le Vite, Volume Quinto 1 copy
Le Vite, Volume Sesto 1 copy
Le Vite, Volume Settimo 1 copy
Le Vite, Volume Ottavo 1 copy
Le Vite, Indici 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti ridotte ed annotate a cura di G. Urbini. (1929) 1 copy
Vidas dos artistas 1 copy
Lives of the artists 1+2 1 copy
Vite scelte. Vol. 1 1 copy
Vita di Sandro Botticelli 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori (nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568), vol. 3 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori (nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568), vol. 4 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori (nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568), vol. 5 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori (nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568), vol. 6 1 copy
Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori (nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568), vol. 7 1 copy
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol 07 (Of 10) Tribolo to Il Sodoma 1 copy
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects - Vol. 04 (of 10), Filippino Lippi to Domenico Puligo (2010) 1 copy
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects - Vol. 02 (of 10), Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi (2010) 1 copy
Das Leben des Sansovino und des Sanmicheli mit Ammannati, Palladi und Palladio, Veronese (2007) 1 copy
Vasari Giorgio 1 copy
Das Leben des Giuliano da Maiano, Antonio und Bernardo Rossellino, Desiderio da Settignano und Benedetto da Maiano (2012) 1 copy
Vite di artisti 1 copy
Raccolto fatto dal cav.re Giorgio Vasari di varii instrumenti per misurare con la vista (1996) 1 copy
Le vite de' più illustri 1 copy
Lives of Seventy of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects,: V. 4 copyright 1896 (2009) 1 copy
Vita di Baccio Bandinelli 1 copy
Lives of the artists, vol. 2 1 copy
A renaissance mesterei 1 copy
Lives of the most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 06 (of 10) Fra Giocondo to Niccolo Soggi (2012) 1 copy
Vidas de grandes artistas 1 copy
Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Volume 2 (Everyman's Library Classics) (1996) 1 copy
Associated Works
5 World Biographies: Michelangelo, Gandhi, Marie Curie, Napoleon, Julius Caesar (1961) — Contributor — 4 copies
Eighty-six engravings and etchings by Albrecht Dürer — Catalogue entries — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Vasari, Giorgio
- Birthdate
- 1511-07-30
- Date of death
- 1574-06-27
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- painter
architect
biographer
art critic
artist - Organizations
- Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno
- Awards and honors
- Ordine dello Speron d'Oro (1571)
- Relationships
- Buonarroti, Michelangelo (friend)
Medici Family (patrons)
Marcillat, Guglielmo de (art teacher) - Short biography
- Giorgio Vasari, who wrote the life stories of many great Renaissance artists, some of whom he knew personally, is considered an invaluable primary source for historians as well as a founding father of art history writing. As a painter, he's best remembered for the Sala Regia at the Vatican, and as an architect for the Uffizi Palace in Florence, which was begun in 1560. He is responsible for what is called the Vasari Corridor, which connects the Uffizi with the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river. Also contributed to work in Santa Maria Novella, Florence and the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria.
- Nationality
- Italy (birth)
- Birthplace
- Arezzo, Republic of Florence
- Places of residence
- Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy (birthplace)
Rome, Italy - Place of death
- Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
- Burial location
- Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta in Arezzo, later removed and partially rebuilt in the Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy.
- Disambiguation notice
- Please try to keep the complete - usually multi volume set - editions separate from the selections / abridged editions.
- Associated Place (for map)
- Italy
Members
Reviews
Vasari: the founder of The History of Art. His book on Lives of the artists of the Italian Renaissance (full title: The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, written by Giorgio Vasari, Painter and Architect of Arezzo) set a template for art history books that lasted for over 400 years and his grading or ranking of those artists has largely stood the test of time. His original publication stretched through three volumes but I read the penguin classics translation show more that selected some of the best mini biographies from each of the three periods covered in the original. Giotto, Brunelleschi, Piero della Francesca, Masaccio, Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian are names that will be familiar to many people who have a passing knowledge of Renaissance art and they are all included here.
Vasari was a successful artist himself, a pupil and later a friend of Michelangelo and so we have the advantage of an insiders knowledge, especially those artists of the third period that Vasari would have met either first or second hand. He would have been able to call on the memories of people who knew artists from the second period and would have read commentaries on artists from the first period. He would have been able to see the frescoes, paintings, sculptures and buildings that proliferated in his native Florence and those at Rome, he also boasts of a collection of drawings by many of the artists that he would have had easy access to, because of his position as head of his own workshop. Perfectly placed then to write a history of art, with the added bonus that his free flowing writing style translates well enough for the modern reader.
Having said that I do not think this is a book for the general reader, whose eyes may glaze over at descriptions of works that have little meaning for us today. It is however an amazing read for anyone interested in primary sources, Italian Renaissance or the history of art. The biographies are not of equal length, some are only a few pages while the longest on Michelangelo is over 100 pages. Vasari is primarily interested in the works of art which he is able to describe; sometimes in detail, but this can result in a list of works that will have little meaning to those people without prior knowledge of them or of the history of art. He does however give readers his views on their success as works of art and he describes their style and any advances on previous efforts. There are some biographical details, but rarely any context of political or social history, however there are some amusing anecdotes and Vasari is not adverse to putting the world too rights with his own comments.
The most fascinating aspect of ‘The Lives’ is Vasari’s own propaganda for the idea of the artist as a person of importance, even of genius; he wanted to enhance the reputation of the artist not only for the people who would read his work in the 16th century, but also for future generations and in this respect he has been enormously successful. He saw the Italian Renaissance as a rebirth from the medievalism of previous history. The rediscovery of antiquity (in sculpture, literature and architecture) helped to fuel the renaissance movement first made prominent by 13th and 14th century artists such as Cimabue and Giotto. This was further developed in the second period and reached its zenith in Vasari’s own time with Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. His views were largely accepted by influential Victorian critics/historians such as Jacob Burckhardt and John Addington Symonds and it is only more recently that Vasari’s motives have been examined in more detail. For example Italian painters of the first and second period were seen largely as craftsmen, on a par with goldsmiths and cabinet makers and as such would be guided in subject matter and interpretation by the patrons who commissioned their work. Vasari was at pains to give the impression that it was the artists themselves who were the guiding lights.
Vasari’s ‘Lives’ gives the reader his view (the artist) on what makes good art: it is a connoisseurs view. He spells it out in his introduction to each volume: correct underdrawing, thorough knowledge of perspective, use of colours, knowledge of works from antiquity and most importantly a true representation of nature. He laid down the basic tenants for the Academies of Arts that flourished right up to modernism of the 20th century. His most high ranking artists were those that demonstrated these techniques, culminating in Michelangelo who achieved a perfection over nature itself.
In Vasari’s own words:
“I have endeavoured not only to record what the artist has done, but also to distinguish between the good the better and the best, and to note with some care the methods, manners, styles, behaviour and ideas of the painters and sculptures…… to understand the sources and origins of various styles and the reasons for improvement or decline…..”
Vasari had a good eye and an excellent knowledge of art and although the writing is somewhat old fashioned it is still a delight to be led by the hand through one of the greatest periods of art history and for those of us confused by the listed works of art there is always the internet to magic up an image. His insiders knowledge cannot fail to give readers a unique flavour of the times and his anecdotes, his snatches of remembered conversation and extracts from letters and documents make this a fascinating read. His biography of Michelangelo although something of a panegyric is worth the price of admission. The penguin classics edition has a useful introduction and an end piece that comments on Vasari’s text artist by artist, therefore we are told of works that are still in existence and those where we think Vasari may have been misinformed. A fascinating aspect is reading about works of art that Vasari did see and which have now been lost. For me this was a five star read. show less
Vasari was a successful artist himself, a pupil and later a friend of Michelangelo and so we have the advantage of an insiders knowledge, especially those artists of the third period that Vasari would have met either first or second hand. He would have been able to call on the memories of people who knew artists from the second period and would have read commentaries on artists from the first period. He would have been able to see the frescoes, paintings, sculptures and buildings that proliferated in his native Florence and those at Rome, he also boasts of a collection of drawings by many of the artists that he would have had easy access to, because of his position as head of his own workshop. Perfectly placed then to write a history of art, with the added bonus that his free flowing writing style translates well enough for the modern reader.
Having said that I do not think this is a book for the general reader, whose eyes may glaze over at descriptions of works that have little meaning for us today. It is however an amazing read for anyone interested in primary sources, Italian Renaissance or the history of art. The biographies are not of equal length, some are only a few pages while the longest on Michelangelo is over 100 pages. Vasari is primarily interested in the works of art which he is able to describe; sometimes in detail, but this can result in a list of works that will have little meaning to those people without prior knowledge of them or of the history of art. He does however give readers his views on their success as works of art and he describes their style and any advances on previous efforts. There are some biographical details, but rarely any context of political or social history, however there are some amusing anecdotes and Vasari is not adverse to putting the world too rights with his own comments.
The most fascinating aspect of ‘The Lives’ is Vasari’s own propaganda for the idea of the artist as a person of importance, even of genius; he wanted to enhance the reputation of the artist not only for the people who would read his work in the 16th century, but also for future generations and in this respect he has been enormously successful. He saw the Italian Renaissance as a rebirth from the medievalism of previous history. The rediscovery of antiquity (in sculpture, literature and architecture) helped to fuel the renaissance movement first made prominent by 13th and 14th century artists such as Cimabue and Giotto. This was further developed in the second period and reached its zenith in Vasari’s own time with Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. His views were largely accepted by influential Victorian critics/historians such as Jacob Burckhardt and John Addington Symonds and it is only more recently that Vasari’s motives have been examined in more detail. For example Italian painters of the first and second period were seen largely as craftsmen, on a par with goldsmiths and cabinet makers and as such would be guided in subject matter and interpretation by the patrons who commissioned their work. Vasari was at pains to give the impression that it was the artists themselves who were the guiding lights.
Vasari’s ‘Lives’ gives the reader his view (the artist) on what makes good art: it is a connoisseurs view. He spells it out in his introduction to each volume: correct underdrawing, thorough knowledge of perspective, use of colours, knowledge of works from antiquity and most importantly a true representation of nature. He laid down the basic tenants for the Academies of Arts that flourished right up to modernism of the 20th century. His most high ranking artists were those that demonstrated these techniques, culminating in Michelangelo who achieved a perfection over nature itself.
In Vasari’s own words:
“I have endeavoured not only to record what the artist has done, but also to distinguish between the good the better and the best, and to note with some care the methods, manners, styles, behaviour and ideas of the painters and sculptures…… to understand the sources and origins of various styles and the reasons for improvement or decline…..”
Vasari had a good eye and an excellent knowledge of art and although the writing is somewhat old fashioned it is still a delight to be led by the hand through one of the greatest periods of art history and for those of us confused by the listed works of art there is always the internet to magic up an image. His insiders knowledge cannot fail to give readers a unique flavour of the times and his anecdotes, his snatches of remembered conversation and extracts from letters and documents make this a fascinating read. His biography of Michelangelo although something of a panegyric is worth the price of admission. The penguin classics edition has a useful introduction and an end piece that comments on Vasari’s text artist by artist, therefore we are told of works that are still in existence and those where we think Vasari may have been misinformed. A fascinating aspect is reading about works of art that Vasari did see and which have now been lost. For me this was a five star read. show less
The second volume of Vasari's biographical survey doesn't have nearly as many of the heavy hitters, which only goes to stress just how much time goes towards his own self-mythologising. If you didn't know any better you'd be forgiven for assuming Vasari was one of the principle geniuses of the Renaissance, making an appearance here to properly identify a misattributed painting, there to fix another architect's bungled work. The life of Salviati (one of his personal friends) at times descends show more into an Alice Toklas level sham-biography, leaving Salviati hanging to spend time talking about what his selfless and faithful friend Vasari had been up to.
Even more unfortunate is his condescending attitude to the masters if they happen to have been born slightly too early; for one, Luca della Robbia, one of the principal sculptural geniuses of the Renaissance, has his work largely dismissed as crude and old-fashioned.
Definitely the best volume for analysing Vasari himself, but doesn't hold a candle to the earlier work in terms of general interest or art-historical value. show less
Even more unfortunate is his condescending attitude to the masters if they happen to have been born slightly too early; for one, Luca della Robbia, one of the principal sculptural geniuses of the Renaissance, has his work largely dismissed as crude and old-fashioned.
Definitely the best volume for analysing Vasari himself, but doesn't hold a candle to the earlier work in terms of general interest or art-historical value. show less
"But what inflicted incomparably greater damage and loss on the arts than the things we have mentioned [Constantine’s move to Byzantium, invasions, etc.] was the fervent enthusiasm of the new Christian religion. After long and bloody combat, Christianity, aided by a host of miracles and the burning sincerity of its adherents, defeated and wiped out the old faith of the pagans. Then with great fervour and diligence it strove to cast out and utterly destroy every last possible occasion of show more sin; and in doing so it ruined or demolished all the marvellous statues, besides the other sculptures, the pictures, mosaics and ornaments representing the false pagan gods; and as well as this it destroyed countless memorials and inscriptions left in honour of illustrious persons who had been commemorated by the genius of the ancient world in statues and other public adornments. Moreover, in order to construct churches for their own services the Christians destroyed the sacred temples of the pagan idols. To embellish and and heighten the original magnificence of St Peter’s they despoiled of its stone columns the mausoleum of Hadrian (today called Castel Sant’Angelo) and they treated in the same way many buildings whose ruins still exist. These things were done by the Christians not out of hatred for the arts but in order to humiliate and overthrow the pagan gods. Nevertheless, their tremendous zeal was responsible for inflicting severe damage on the practice of the arts, which then fell into total confusion."
- From Vasari’s Preface (pp. 36-7)
Vasari may have taken his cue from Petrarch, who wrote in his poem Africa, written in 1338, a year after he first visited Rome, addressing the poem itself: "for you, if you should long outlive me, as my soul hopes and wishes, there is perhaps a better age in store; this slumber of forgetfulness will not last forever. After the darkness has been dispelled, our grandsons will be able to walk back into the pure radiance of the past."
A century after Petrarch, Leon Battista Alberti, the pioneer of Renaissance art theory, wrote in On Painting (De pictura) along similar lines as Vasari would do another century later: "I used to marvel and at the same time to grieve that so many excellent and superior arts and sciences from our most vigorous antique past could now seem lacking and almost wholly lost. We know from [remaining] works and through references to them that they were once widespread. Painters, sculptors, architects, musicians, geometricians, rhetoricians, seers and similar noble and amazing intellects are very rarely found today and there are few to praise them. (...) It must be admitted that it was less difficult for the Ancients--because they had models to imitate and from which they could learn--to come to a knowledge of those supreme arts which today are most difficult for us. Our fame ought to be much greater, then, if we discover unheard-of and never-before-seen arts and sciences without teachers or without any model whatsoever. Who could ever be hard or envious enough to fail to praise Pippo the architect on seeing here such a large structure, rising above the skies, ample to cover with its shadow all the Tuscan people, and constructed without the aid of centering or great quantity of wood? (...) if I judge rightly, it was probably unknown and unthought of among the Ancients. But there will be other places, Filippo, to tell of your fame, of the virtues of our Donato [Donatello], and of the others who are most pleasing to me by their deeds." - Alberti, On Painting, Prologue addressed to Filippo Brunelleschi (1435)
Vasari thought of the achievements in art and architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans as a Golden Age, and that of the Medieval period which followed as a period of decline. (He hated Gothic art and architecture – that’s also why he chose the term "Gothic" – it was about the worst term he could think of, and he used it as a synonym for "barbaric"...) With the gradual rediscovery of the ancient works of art ("those which were produced in Corinth, Athens, Rome, and other famous cities, before the time of Constantine"), he sees a new beginning: "helped by some subtle influence in the very air of Italy, the new generations started to purge their minds of the grossness of the past so successfully that in 1250 the heaven took pity on the talented men who were being born in Tuscany [Cimabue et al.] and led them back to the pristine forms. Before then, during the years after Rome was sacked and devastadted and swept by fire, men had been able to see the remains of arches and colossi, statues, pillars and carved columns; but until the period we are discussing they had no idea how to use or profit from this fine work." (p. 45)
The Lives consists of three parts. Vasari writes in his Preface to Part Two: "I have divided the artists into three sections or, shall we say, periods, each with its own recognizably distinct character, running from the time of the rebirth of the arts up to our own times." The first part includes Cimabue and Giotto – artists that "mark a new beginning, opening the way for the better work which followed. (...) Then in the second period there was clearly a considerable improvement in invention and execution, with more design, better style, and a more careful finish." (Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Alberti, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, etc.) - This is followed by the third period when "art has achieved everything possible in the imitation of nature and has progressed so far that is thas more reason to fear slipping back than to expect ever to make further advances." (pp. 84-5) The third part includes all the giants of Renaissance art. Leonardo, Giorgione, Correggio, Raphael, Michelangelo and Titian have been selected for this edition.
The Life of Michelangelo is the longest by far, and Vasari was proud of being able to call himself his friend. Michelangelo wasn’t all that happy about everything Vasari wrote. Possibly he considered Vasari most of all a useful contact between himself and Duke Cosimo de' Medici in Florence while he was working in Rome – and later he asked his friend Ascanio Condivi to write about his life and to correct some of the things Vasari had got wrong. I haven’t read Condivi’s Vita yet, but I enjoyed Vasari’s account in spite of Michelangelo’s objections to it. In fact I found even his gushing over Michelangelo both amusing and understandable, and by then I had gotten used to Vasari’s style and knew his strengths and weaknesses, so I had no problem bearing with him. – Anyway, Vasari later revised his account of Michelangelo based on that of Condivi, and he provides a wealth of information. The revised and enlarged edition of the Lives was published in 1568, and it is selections from this later edition that has been translated here.
George Bull writes in his Introduction: “The letters of introduction to Cosimo for the 1550 and 1568 editions of the Lives echo in the obsequiousness other letters addressed by artists and writers to the Medici – notably Machiavelli’s letter to Cosimo’s father, Lorenzo, at the head of The Prince: the humble posture adopted in these dedications reflected perhaps, standard modes of address as much as genuine servility. More interesting is the manner in which both Machiavelli and Vasari interpreted political and art history, respectively, in terms of inevitable progression and decline and yet, paradoxically, suggested that the decline could be arrested by genius, by the virtù of a political leader or artist, endowed by nature with great ability and taught to emulate the perfection reached in the past. This affirmation of virtù has been called the ‘fundamental theme of the Lives’.” (p. 15)
“In their entirety, the Lives may fairly be called a work of art. On one great canvas Vasari painted a harmonious and glowing composition which sustains with ease the task of conveying the revolutionary nature of of what happened in Italian art between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. He lifted the story of Tuscan art (...) to the plane of the heroic, stretching back to the quasi-legendary figures of Cimabue and Giotto, and forward to the inspired Michelangelo...” (p. 16)
As Bull also writes, it can get a bit boring at times, but you keep reading because when he really likes a piece of art, Vasari’s enthusiasm often gives his style a lift and makes him write with flair. And there are endless examples of that in this book. He’s also emphatically Florence-centric, which gets kind of entertaining, especially as the book progresses. And Vasari provides plenty of amusing anecdotes and gossip, so that this in a way makes up for the occasional parts where the writing just drags along. - There’s e.g. the story of Giotto’s O, and of how Brunelleschi, to illustrate how his dome could be self-supporting, made an egg stand upright on a slab of marble by hitting one end of the egg hard against it, and later how he feigned illness to expose the fact that Lorenzo Ghiberti (who received the same pay) was not competent to take over the work on the dome in his absence. Stories and anecdotes you may have read before, but this is where they are first told.
There’s also this great anecdote about Michelangelo:
"When he saw the David in place [at the entrance to the Palazzo della Signoria] Piero Soderini was delighted; but while Michelangelo was retouching it he remarked that he though the nose was too thick. Michelangelo noticing that Gonfalonier was standing beneath the Giant and that from where he was he could not see the figure properly, to satisfy him climbed on the scaffolding by the shoulders, seized hold of a chisel in his left hand, together with some of the marble dust lying on the planks, and as he tapped lightly with the chisel let the dust fall little by little, without altering anything. Then he looked down at the Gonfalonier, who had stopped to watch, and said:
'Now look at it.'
'Ah, that’s much better,' replied Soderini. 'Now you’ve really brought it to life.'
And then Michelangelo climbed down, feeling sorry for those critics who talk nonsense in the hope of appearing well informed.” (p. 338-9)
The Renaissance gave birth to great art (among other things), and also to the first art-history. Vasari was even the first to use the term Renaissance (rinascita) in print. One of his preoccupations was disegno: drawing and making preparatory sketches was something he saw as being of prime importance for a painter. I can agree with this to a large degree, but this and other preoccupations could make him unjust towards some painters. He also at times makes mistakes when describing paintings, getting them mixed up, etc. - possibly because he hadn’t actually seen them, but had to rely on hearsay. These are facts that doesnt really diminish his accomplishment with the Lives, because for a large part his aesthetic judgement was acute and to the point. Nevertheless it is a pity that because he was seen as an authority for such a long period of time, many of these mistakes were perpetuated, a few even into our own times. But however that may be, by delving into Vasari's Lives you’re bound to add something new to your knowledge about most of the great artists he has written about – and not the least do you get to know the art world of the early 16th century quite intimately as seen through the eyes of Vasari. For me this was not a book to simply read straight through - I've been taking my time and mostly enjoying bite-size chunks of it and letting the book rest for a while in between readings. These are all the major artists and architects of the period between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries after all In this edition, George Bull has made his selection from the top shelf. Now I'll have to get hold of the second volume of his excellent translation of the Lives as well..
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less
- From Vasari’s Preface (pp. 36-7)
Vasari may have taken his cue from Petrarch, who wrote in his poem Africa, written in 1338, a year after he first visited Rome, addressing the poem itself: "for you, if you should long outlive me, as my soul hopes and wishes, there is perhaps a better age in store; this slumber of forgetfulness will not last forever. After the darkness has been dispelled, our grandsons will be able to walk back into the pure radiance of the past."
A century after Petrarch, Leon Battista Alberti, the pioneer of Renaissance art theory, wrote in On Painting (De pictura) along similar lines as Vasari would do another century later: "I used to marvel and at the same time to grieve that so many excellent and superior arts and sciences from our most vigorous antique past could now seem lacking and almost wholly lost. We know from [remaining] works and through references to them that they were once widespread. Painters, sculptors, architects, musicians, geometricians, rhetoricians, seers and similar noble and amazing intellects are very rarely found today and there are few to praise them. (...) It must be admitted that it was less difficult for the Ancients--because they had models to imitate and from which they could learn--to come to a knowledge of those supreme arts which today are most difficult for us. Our fame ought to be much greater, then, if we discover unheard-of and never-before-seen arts and sciences without teachers or without any model whatsoever. Who could ever be hard or envious enough to fail to praise Pippo the architect on seeing here such a large structure, rising above the skies, ample to cover with its shadow all the Tuscan people, and constructed without the aid of centering or great quantity of wood? (...) if I judge rightly, it was probably unknown and unthought of among the Ancients. But there will be other places, Filippo, to tell of your fame, of the virtues of our Donato [Donatello], and of the others who are most pleasing to me by their deeds." - Alberti, On Painting, Prologue addressed to Filippo Brunelleschi (1435)
Vasari thought of the achievements in art and architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans as a Golden Age, and that of the Medieval period which followed as a period of decline. (He hated Gothic art and architecture – that’s also why he chose the term "Gothic" – it was about the worst term he could think of, and he used it as a synonym for "barbaric"...) With the gradual rediscovery of the ancient works of art ("those which were produced in Corinth, Athens, Rome, and other famous cities, before the time of Constantine"), he sees a new beginning: "helped by some subtle influence in the very air of Italy, the new generations started to purge their minds of the grossness of the past so successfully that in 1250 the heaven took pity on the talented men who were being born in Tuscany [Cimabue et al.] and led them back to the pristine forms. Before then, during the years after Rome was sacked and devastadted and swept by fire, men had been able to see the remains of arches and colossi, statues, pillars and carved columns; but until the period we are discussing they had no idea how to use or profit from this fine work." (p. 45)
The Lives consists of three parts. Vasari writes in his Preface to Part Two: "I have divided the artists into three sections or, shall we say, periods, each with its own recognizably distinct character, running from the time of the rebirth of the arts up to our own times." The first part includes Cimabue and Giotto – artists that "mark a new beginning, opening the way for the better work which followed. (...) Then in the second period there was clearly a considerable improvement in invention and execution, with more design, better style, and a more careful finish." (Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Alberti, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, etc.) - This is followed by the third period when "art has achieved everything possible in the imitation of nature and has progressed so far that is thas more reason to fear slipping back than to expect ever to make further advances." (pp. 84-5) The third part includes all the giants of Renaissance art. Leonardo, Giorgione, Correggio, Raphael, Michelangelo and Titian have been selected for this edition.
The Life of Michelangelo is the longest by far, and Vasari was proud of being able to call himself his friend. Michelangelo wasn’t all that happy about everything Vasari wrote. Possibly he considered Vasari most of all a useful contact between himself and Duke Cosimo de' Medici in Florence while he was working in Rome – and later he asked his friend Ascanio Condivi to write about his life and to correct some of the things Vasari had got wrong. I haven’t read Condivi’s Vita yet, but I enjoyed Vasari’s account in spite of Michelangelo’s objections to it. In fact I found even his gushing over Michelangelo both amusing and understandable, and by then I had gotten used to Vasari’s style and knew his strengths and weaknesses, so I had no problem bearing with him. – Anyway, Vasari later revised his account of Michelangelo based on that of Condivi, and he provides a wealth of information. The revised and enlarged edition of the Lives was published in 1568, and it is selections from this later edition that has been translated here.
George Bull writes in his Introduction: “The letters of introduction to Cosimo for the 1550 and 1568 editions of the Lives echo in the obsequiousness other letters addressed by artists and writers to the Medici – notably Machiavelli’s letter to Cosimo’s father, Lorenzo, at the head of The Prince: the humble posture adopted in these dedications reflected perhaps, standard modes of address as much as genuine servility. More interesting is the manner in which both Machiavelli and Vasari interpreted political and art history, respectively, in terms of inevitable progression and decline and yet, paradoxically, suggested that the decline could be arrested by genius, by the virtù of a political leader or artist, endowed by nature with great ability and taught to emulate the perfection reached in the past. This affirmation of virtù has been called the ‘fundamental theme of the Lives’.” (p. 15)
“In their entirety, the Lives may fairly be called a work of art. On one great canvas Vasari painted a harmonious and glowing composition which sustains with ease the task of conveying the revolutionary nature of of what happened in Italian art between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. He lifted the story of Tuscan art (...) to the plane of the heroic, stretching back to the quasi-legendary figures of Cimabue and Giotto, and forward to the inspired Michelangelo...” (p. 16)
As Bull also writes, it can get a bit boring at times, but you keep reading because when he really likes a piece of art, Vasari’s enthusiasm often gives his style a lift and makes him write with flair. And there are endless examples of that in this book. He’s also emphatically Florence-centric, which gets kind of entertaining, especially as the book progresses. And Vasari provides plenty of amusing anecdotes and gossip, so that this in a way makes up for the occasional parts where the writing just drags along. - There’s e.g. the story of Giotto’s O, and of how Brunelleschi, to illustrate how his dome could be self-supporting, made an egg stand upright on a slab of marble by hitting one end of the egg hard against it, and later how he feigned illness to expose the fact that Lorenzo Ghiberti (who received the same pay) was not competent to take over the work on the dome in his absence. Stories and anecdotes you may have read before, but this is where they are first told.
There’s also this great anecdote about Michelangelo:
"When he saw the David in place [at the entrance to the Palazzo della Signoria] Piero Soderini was delighted; but while Michelangelo was retouching it he remarked that he though the nose was too thick. Michelangelo noticing that Gonfalonier was standing beneath the Giant and that from where he was he could not see the figure properly, to satisfy him climbed on the scaffolding by the shoulders, seized hold of a chisel in his left hand, together with some of the marble dust lying on the planks, and as he tapped lightly with the chisel let the dust fall little by little, without altering anything. Then he looked down at the Gonfalonier, who had stopped to watch, and said:
'Now look at it.'
'Ah, that’s much better,' replied Soderini. 'Now you’ve really brought it to life.'
And then Michelangelo climbed down, feeling sorry for those critics who talk nonsense in the hope of appearing well informed.” (p. 338-9)
The Renaissance gave birth to great art (among other things), and also to the first art-history. Vasari was even the first to use the term Renaissance (rinascita) in print. One of his preoccupations was disegno: drawing and making preparatory sketches was something he saw as being of prime importance for a painter. I can agree with this to a large degree, but this and other preoccupations could make him unjust towards some painters. He also at times makes mistakes when describing paintings, getting them mixed up, etc. - possibly because he hadn’t actually seen them, but had to rely on hearsay. These are facts that doesnt really diminish his accomplishment with the Lives, because for a large part his aesthetic judgement was acute and to the point. Nevertheless it is a pity that because he was seen as an authority for such a long period of time, many of these mistakes were perpetuated, a few even into our own times. But however that may be, by delving into Vasari's Lives you’re bound to add something new to your knowledge about most of the great artists he has written about – and not the least do you get to know the art world of the early 16th century quite intimately as seen through the eyes of Vasari. For me this was not a book to simply read straight through - I've been taking my time and mostly enjoying bite-size chunks of it and letting the book rest for a while in between readings. These are all the major artists and architects of the period between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries after all In this edition, George Bull has made his selection from the top shelf. Now I'll have to get hold of the second volume of his excellent translation of the Lives as well..
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. show less
Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) was an artist, architect, and friend to Michelangelo, so his ‘sketches’ of the lives of Italian artists from the 13th to the 16th centuries is of special interest - it’s art history by a guy who was essentially ‘right there’.
The editors of this version wisely pared down the number of artists that Vasari actually wrote about, which he broke into three parts. The first covers Cimabue and Giotto, the two who began breaking from Byzantine forms to usher in show more the Renaissance, the second includes Ghiberti, Masaccio, Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Botticelli among others from the 14th and 15th centuries, and the third includes Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. My mind boggles at that last magnificent threesome, and how they were all together in the same place at the same time, even if they didn’t get along together all that well.
Vasari gets his dates mixed up at times, and sometimes misattributes artwork, but he has a great eye as an art critic, and certainly gets the spirit of these men right. Here is how he opens the chapter on Leonardo: “In the normal course of events many men and women are born with various remarkable qualities and talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvelously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace, and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired…”
I confess it’s a little tough to read through some sections of this book, as Vasari has a tendency to abbreviate the actual lives of these artists and describes their work one piece after another in detail, so I skimmed at times. Much better in a modern edition would be an illustrated book with color insets interleaved. As it was, I spent a lot of time looking up art online, which was fun in its own right, but hit or miss in terms of finding specific work. I would also recommend skipping his prefaces to the three parts altogether.
However, with that said, the personal stories and anecdotes recorded by Vasari are priceless, and 5-star nuggets of gold. Here’s a sample:
- Giotto drawing a perfect red circle without moving his arm when a courtier of Pope Benedict IX was sent for a sample of his work.
- Donatello getting angry at Brunelleschi for his criticism of a crucifix, saying ‘Get some wood and do it yourself’, and then marveling at what Brunelleschi later produced. Donatello’s generosity with workmen and friends while he was alive, and then leaving his small farm to a peasant instead of greedy relatives because he deserved it more.
- Brunelleschi’s initial proposals for the dome of the Duomo in Florence being met with ridicule, and after heated exchanges, being carried out as onlookers thought he was deranged. Later, after his plan was accepted, his anger at Ghiberti being named co-architect, and doing everything he could to get him removed.
- Fra Filippo Lippi being seized at sea by Moorish galleys and taken captive to Barbary in chains, where he would spend a year and a half before impressing his master with his artistic ability so much that he was freed. This same Fra Filippo being so lustful after women that Cosimo de’ Medici locked him up, only to have him escape to satisfy his desires.
- On seeing birds for sale, Da Vinci paying the price asked, and then setting them free. Da Vinci’s inventions, drawings, and dissections that he documented with characters written in reverse with the left hand.
- Da Vinci spending long hours contemplating next steps in his painting, having a prior getting impatient and pressing him to hurry up and finish, and Da Vinci telling a duke that he could make the prior the model for Judas if necessary, much to the duke’s delight. Similarly, Michelangelo’s struggles with Popes who were impatient at times, insulting at others, once causing him to storm off, pack up and leave town.
- Da Vinci painting Mona Lisa, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and while doing so, “employing singers and musicians or jesters to keep her face full of merriment and so chase away the melancholy that painters usually give to portraits.” Think of that next time you contemplate her smile.
- The animosity and rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo, as well as Raphael sneaking in to see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel before it was done, and adapting his own art as a result.
- Giorgione becoming afflicted with the plague from his lover, and dying at 33. Similarly, Raphael’s lifelong love of mistress Margarita Luti, who he painted a couple of times, as well as his “great fondness for women” and practice of “always indulging his sexual appetites”; upon returning from one such session of excess with a violent fever, being bled to no avail, and dying tragically at 37.
- Michelangelo being beaten by his father and older brothers as a youth because he was so obsessed with drawing. A rival artist, Torrigiano, later breaking his nose out of jealousy so badly it marked Michelangelo for life.
- Michelangelo getting the block of marble that he would sculpt his David out of from basically a discard pile, the block having been previously used unsuccessfully by another artist, Simone da Fiesole.
This may be a good book to bring along while touring Florence or Rome. It may not be perfect as history or always captivating in its story-telling, but it is pretty unique to invite someone from 450 years ago into your study, and to have him tell you stories about artists you revere. show less
The editors of this version wisely pared down the number of artists that Vasari actually wrote about, which he broke into three parts. The first covers Cimabue and Giotto, the two who began breaking from Byzantine forms to usher in show more the Renaissance, the second includes Ghiberti, Masaccio, Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Botticelli among others from the 14th and 15th centuries, and the third includes Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. My mind boggles at that last magnificent threesome, and how they were all together in the same place at the same time, even if they didn’t get along together all that well.
Vasari gets his dates mixed up at times, and sometimes misattributes artwork, but he has a great eye as an art critic, and certainly gets the spirit of these men right. Here is how he opens the chapter on Leonardo: “In the normal course of events many men and women are born with various remarkable qualities and talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvelously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace, and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired…”
I confess it’s a little tough to read through some sections of this book, as Vasari has a tendency to abbreviate the actual lives of these artists and describes their work one piece after another in detail, so I skimmed at times. Much better in a modern edition would be an illustrated book with color insets interleaved. As it was, I spent a lot of time looking up art online, which was fun in its own right, but hit or miss in terms of finding specific work. I would also recommend skipping his prefaces to the three parts altogether.
However, with that said, the personal stories and anecdotes recorded by Vasari are priceless, and 5-star nuggets of gold. Here’s a sample:
- Giotto drawing a perfect red circle without moving his arm when a courtier of Pope Benedict IX was sent for a sample of his work.
- Donatello getting angry at Brunelleschi for his criticism of a crucifix, saying ‘Get some wood and do it yourself’, and then marveling at what Brunelleschi later produced. Donatello’s generosity with workmen and friends while he was alive, and then leaving his small farm to a peasant instead of greedy relatives because he deserved it more.
- Brunelleschi’s initial proposals for the dome of the Duomo in Florence being met with ridicule, and after heated exchanges, being carried out as onlookers thought he was deranged. Later, after his plan was accepted, his anger at Ghiberti being named co-architect, and doing everything he could to get him removed.
- Fra Filippo Lippi being seized at sea by Moorish galleys and taken captive to Barbary in chains, where he would spend a year and a half before impressing his master with his artistic ability so much that he was freed. This same Fra Filippo being so lustful after women that Cosimo de’ Medici locked him up, only to have him escape to satisfy his desires.
- On seeing birds for sale, Da Vinci paying the price asked, and then setting them free. Da Vinci’s inventions, drawings, and dissections that he documented with characters written in reverse with the left hand.
- Da Vinci spending long hours contemplating next steps in his painting, having a prior getting impatient and pressing him to hurry up and finish, and Da Vinci telling a duke that he could make the prior the model for Judas if necessary, much to the duke’s delight. Similarly, Michelangelo’s struggles with Popes who were impatient at times, insulting at others, once causing him to storm off, pack up and leave town.
- Da Vinci painting Mona Lisa, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and while doing so, “employing singers and musicians or jesters to keep her face full of merriment and so chase away the melancholy that painters usually give to portraits.” Think of that next time you contemplate her smile.
- The animosity and rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo, as well as Raphael sneaking in to see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel before it was done, and adapting his own art as a result.
- Giorgione becoming afflicted with the plague from his lover, and dying at 33. Similarly, Raphael’s lifelong love of mistress Margarita Luti, who he painted a couple of times, as well as his “great fondness for women” and practice of “always indulging his sexual appetites”; upon returning from one such session of excess with a violent fever, being bled to no avail, and dying tragically at 37.
- Michelangelo being beaten by his father and older brothers as a youth because he was so obsessed with drawing. A rival artist, Torrigiano, later breaking his nose out of jealousy so badly it marked Michelangelo for life.
- Michelangelo getting the block of marble that he would sculpt his David out of from basically a discard pile, the block having been previously used unsuccessfully by another artist, Simone da Fiesole.
This may be a good book to bring along while touring Florence or Rome. It may not be perfect as history or always captivating in its story-telling, but it is pretty unique to invite someone from 450 years ago into your study, and to have him tell you stories about artists you revere. show less
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