The painter and architect Giorgio Vasari (1511-74) was a pupil of Michaelangelo who worked mainly in Florence and Rome. He is famous today, however, as the author of LIVES OF THE PAINTERS, SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS, the work which effectively founded the study of art history and remains one of its greatest monuments. Vasari's distinctive blend of biography and criticism has exerted an immeasurable influence on all subsequent historians, but its value for contemporary readers consists as much in the liveliness and piquancy of the stories his book contains, and the vivid light it casts on the great masters of early Italian painting.
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Gives a different perspective on the artists covered in the books as written by a contemporary. * Amazon Review * Superb "dip in" reference book * Amazon * The best way to be informed about Leonardo and his contemporaries will be to read their Lives, done by Vasari * Goodreads *
Born in Arezzo, Tuscany, in 1511, Giorgio Vasari was a versatile artist. Painter, architect, art collector, writer and historian, he is primarily acknowledged today as the author of The Lives of the Most Celebrated Painters, Sculptors and Architects. A foundational book of art history; it has acted as the prototype for all biographies of artists. Vasari had a prolific career in the city, working for the Medici family, notably for Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He cultivated friendships with many artists, including Michelangelo, who influenced his style. Unusually well-educated for an artist of his time, the 1540s, Vasari became involved in chronicling the lives, times and works of the great artists of what he called the Renaissance, defining the term as we understand it today. 1550 saw publication of the first edition of the Lives of the Painters in Florence. Vasari died on 27 June 1574, while at work decorating the dome of the cathedral in Florence.
