Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1570) was an Italian painter, architect, and author of "The Lives of the Most Celebrated Painters, Sculptors, and Architects." His book is the foundation of modern art historiography and the prototype for all biographies of artists.

Giorgio Vasari was born on July 30, 1511, in Arezzo. According to his own account, he was apprenticed as a boy to Andrea del Sarto in Florence. He apparently suffered at the hands of Andrea's wife, to judge from the waspish references to her in his life of Andrea. Vasari's career is well documented, the fullest source of information being the autobiography added to the 1568 edition of his Lives.

Vasari had an extremely active career, but much of his time was spent as an impresario devising decorations for courtly festivals and similar ephemera. He fulsomely praised the Medici family for forwarding his career from childhood, and much of his work was done for Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Vasari was a prolific painter in the mannerist style and was also active as an architect, his talents in the latter profession being superior to those he displayed as a painter. He supervised the building of Pope Julius III's Villa Giulia near Rome, but his masterpiece is the reconstruction of the Uffizi picture gallery in Florence (from 1560), originally the offices of the grandducal administration.

The Lives

Vasari's Lives was published in Florence in 1550; it was revised and enlarged in 1568. He venerated Michelangelo to the point of idolatry. In the latter years of Michelangelo's life Vasari came to know him quite well, and for this reason the two versions of his biography of Michelangelo are of the greatest importance as a contemporary assessment.

The tradition of such biographies goes back to antiquity; technical treatises on the arts were also written in classical times, Pliny the Elder and Vitruvius having produced two celebrated examples. As early as the time of Lorenzo Ghiberti there had been an attempt to imitate classical prototypes by writing on earlier and contemporary artists, and Ghiberti, in his Commentaries (ca. 1447-1455), also wrote the earliest autobiography by a modern artist.

During the late 15th and early 16th centuries similar treatises were projected and written, and Vasari knew and used some of these earlier works. What distinguishes the first edition of his Lives is the fact that it is far fuller (and better written) than any of its predecessors or potential rivals. As Vasari says himself, he wrote as an artist for other artists, with knowledge of technical matters.

The book opens with long introductions on the history and technique of painting, sculpture, and architecture, as practiced in Italy since the Dark Ages, and then proceeds to a chronological series of lives of the great revivers of painting (Giotto), sculpture (the Pisani), and architecture (Arnolfo di Cambio), reaching a climax in the life of Michelangelo, the master of all three arts, who was then 75 years old. Briefly, the plan of the book was to show how Italian—and specifically Tuscan—artists had revived the glories of classical art late in the 13th century, reaching a crescendo in Michelangelo. Vasari is extremely partisan in that Venetians such as Giorgione and Titian are not given the prominence they deserve; and he also shows an uneasy awareness that if Michelangelo had reached perfection only decline could follow.

Vasari took great care to gather material on his numerous journeys, and, more than any of his predecessors, he looked at works of art. On the other hand, his reverence for factual truth was less than would be required of a modern historian, and he was unable to resist an amusing anecdote. This gives his book a liveliness and directness which has ensured its continued popularity independent of its historical importance.

In 1568 Vasari produced a second edition, much larger than the original and containing a great many alterations, particularly in the earlier lives. It also has many new biographies of living (or recently dead) artists, so it is an essential source for Vasari's contemporaries. He gives more space to non-Florentine artists and even mentions one or two non-Italians.

The most important changes are in the life of Michelangelo, who had died in 1564. Part of the revision of Vasari's earlier life was occasioned by the publication, in 1553, of the Life of Michelangelo, written by Ascanio Condivi, a pupil of Michelangelo, and probably partly dictated by the master. The versions by Vasari and Condivi give us, therefore, a unique contemporary picture of the life and works of the greatest Italian artist of the age.

It is almost impossible to imagine the history of Italian art without Vasari, so fundamental is his Lives. It is the first real and autonomous history of art both because of its monumental scope and because of the integration of the individual biographies into a whole.

Further Reading

There are several English translations of Vasari's Lives, in whole or in part, the best selection being that translated by George Bull as The Lives of the Artists (1965). For biographical information on Vasari see Einar Rud, Vasari's Life and Lives (1963).

Additional Sources

Boase, T. S. R. (Thomas Sherrer Ross), 1898-1974., Giorgio Vasari: the man and the book, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979. □

Vasari, Giorgio (b Arezzo, 30 July 1511; d Florence, 27 June 1574). Italian painter, architect, and writer, active mainly in Florence and Rome. In his day he was a leading painter, architect, and artistic impresario, but his activities in these fields have been completely overshadowed by his role as the most important of all artistic biographers. His great book, generally referred to as Lives of the Artists, has earned him the title of the father of art history; it is not only the fundamental source of information on Italian Renaissance art, but also a key document in shaping attitudes about the period for centuries afterwards. (The book was first published in Florence in 1550 as Le vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani—The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors; in 1568 there was a second, much enlarged edition, in which the title is slightly changed, the painters being mentioned first. In addition to biographies, the book contains a lengthy introduction dealing with artists' materials and techniques.)

Vasari wrote from a particular aesthetic viewpoint, and his book is not only a collection of biographical information but also a critical history of style. He believed that art is in the first instance imitation of nature and that progress in painting consists in the perfecting of the means of representation. He thought that such representational skills had been taken to high levels in classical antiquity, that art had then passed through a long period of decline in the Middle Ages, and that it had begun to revive in the 14th century in Tuscany (he was heavily biased in favour of his own region). The main theme of the Lives was to set forth this revival—its initiation by Cimabue and Giotto, its steady advance at the hands of such artists as Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Masaccio, and its culmination with Leonardo, Raphael, and above all Michelangelo, whom Vasari idolized and whose biography was the only one of a living artist to appear in the first edition of his book (the second edition adds accounts of several artists then living, including Vasari's autobiography). The idea of artistic ‘progress’ that he promoted subsequently coloured most writing on the period.

Given the wide scope and vast size of the book (the second edition has roughly the same wordage as the Bible), it is not surprising that it contains many errors and contentious points (see, for example, Andrea del Castagno and Andrea del Sarto). However, by the standards of the time Vasari was a diligent researcher and he gathered together an enormous amount of invaluable information, which he presented in a lively style, full of memorable anecdotes. Moreover, his qualitative judgements have generally stood the test of time well: the artists and works he most admired are by and large still the ones we most admire today. His book became the model for artistic biographers in other countries, such as van Mander in the Netherlands, Sandrart in Germany, and Palomino in Spain.

As a painter, Vasari was one of the most prolific decorators of his period, but he is not now highly regarded, his work representing the most in-bred and affected kind of Mannerism. His best-known achievement in this field is probably the decoration (1546) of the grand salon in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome, with scenes celebrating the life of Pope Paul III, commissioned by his grandson Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Pressed for quick results by the cardinal, Vasari enlisted a team of assistants and finished the work within 100 days, earning the room its nickname of the Sala dei Cento Giorni. When Michelangelo was told of the remarkable speed with which the work had been accomplished, he is said to have made the withering response ‘E si vede’ (So it appears). As an architect Vasari has a higher reputation; his most important building is the Uffizi in Florence, and he designed and decorated his own house in Arezzo, now a museum dedicated to him. Vasari was the first important collector of drawings, using them partly as research material for his biographies, for the insight they gave into the creative process, and he also played the leading role in establishing Florence's Accademia del Disegno (see academy).

Vasari, Giorgio (1511–74). Italian painter, architect, and writer, born in Arezzo and active mainly in Florence and Rome. In his day he was a leading painter, architect, and artistic impresario, but his activities in these fields have been completely overshadowed by his role as the most important of all artistic biographers. His great book, generally referred to as Lives of the Artists, has earned him the title of the father of art history; it is not only the fundamental source of information on Italian Renaissance art, but also a key document in shaping attitudes about the period for centuries afterwards. (The book was first published in Florence in 1550 as Le vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani (The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors); in 1568 there was a second, much enlarged edition, in which the title is slightly changed, the painters being mentioned first.) Vasari wrote from a particular aesthetic viewpoint, and his book is not only a collection of biographies but also a critical history of style. He believed that art is in the first instance imitation of nature and that progress in painting consists in the perfecting of the means of representation. He thought that such representational skills had been taken to high levels in classical antiquity, that art had then passed through a long period of decline in the Middle Ages, and that it had begun to revive in the 14th century in Tuscany (he was heavily biased in favour of his own region). The main theme of the Lives was to set forth this revival—its initiation by Cimabue and Giotto, its steady advance at the hands of such artists as Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Masaccio, and its culmination with Leonardo, Raphael, and above all Michelangelo, whom Vasari idolized and whose biography was the only one of a living artist to appear in the first edition of his book (the second edition adds accounts of several artists then living, including Vasari's autobiography). The idea of artistic ‘progress’ that he promoted subsequently coloured most writing on the period. Given the wide scope and vast size of the book (the second edition has roughly the same wordage as the Bible), it is not surprising that it contains many errors and contentious points (see, for example, Andrea del Castagno and Andrea del Sarto). However, by the standards of the time Vasari was a diligent researcher and he gathered together an enormous amount of invaluable information, which he presented in a lively style, full of memorable anecdotes. Moreover, his qualitative judgements have generally stood the test of time well: the artists and works he most admired are by and large still the ones we most admire today. His book became the model for artistic biographers in other countries, such as van Mander in the Netherlands, Sandrart in Germany, and Palomino in Spain.

As a painter, Vasari was one of the most prolific decorators of his period, but he is not now highly regarded, his work representing the most inbred and affected kind of Mannerism. His best-known achievement in this field is probably the decoration (1546) of the grand salon in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome, with scenes celebrating the life of Pope Paul III, commissioned by his grandson, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. Pressed for quick results by the cardinal, Vasari enlisted a team of assistants and finished the work within a hundred days, earning the room its nickname of the Sala dei Cento Giorni. When Michelangelo was told of the remarkable speed with which the work had been accomplished, he is said to have made the withering response ‘E si vede’ (So it appears). As an architect Vasari has a higher reputation; his most important building is the Uffizi in Florence, and he designed and decorated his own house in Arezzo, now a museum dedicated to him. Vasari was the first important collector of drawings, using them partly as research material for his biographies, for the insight they gave into the creative process, and he also played the leading role in establishing Florence's Accademia del Disegno (see Academy).

Vasari, Giorgio (1511–1570)

Painter, architect, and author, whose book Lives of the Most Celebrated Painters, Sculptors, and Architects remains an important source of information on the life and works of many Renaissance artists. Born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Vasari studied with Guglielmo de Marsiglia in his hometown before leaving for Florence at the age of sixteen. He apprenticed as a painter in the workshop of Andrea del Sartro in Florence; he also traveled to Rome to study the works of Raphael, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. While a young man he worked as a festival manager, in which he designed decorations and processions for festivals at the courts of Florence, where he won the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici, the Duke of Florence. A skilled painter, he completed portraits of the Medici as well as paintings for the Hall of Cosimo I at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and the Sala Regia in the Vatican in Rome. He has a stronger reputation as an architect; Vasari helped to design the famous Villa Giulia in Rome for Pope Julius III and palaces in the towns of Arezzo and Pisa. His major architectural work, however, was the design of the Uffizi gallery in Florence, formerly the government offices (Uffizi) of Tuscany. In this work he took inspiration from the design of the Vatican by Donato Bramante and by Michelangelo's Laurentian Library in Florence. Vasari designed a loggia, or covered passageway, in the Piazza Grande of Arezzo, where he also worked on the Church of Santi Fiora e Lucilla. He renovated the Churches of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella in Florence, replacing medieval features of the churches with a unified design inspired by classical Roman architecture. His many commissions allowed him to prosper and become a leading citizen of Arezzo, where he designed and decorated a mansion and where he attained the post of gonfaloniere, or mayor. In Florence he founded the Academy of Design with Cosimo de' Medici and Michelangelo; this institution survives to the present day as the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence.

A tireless traveler, Vasari developed on his wide-ranging journeys a keen instinct for judging works of art and especially paintings. From his wanderings he gathered notes and anecdotes that he worked into his Lives, which was first published in 1550 and was expanded for a new edition in 1568 and illustrated with woodcut portraits. The book begins with an introduction on the history of painting, sculpture, and architecture in Italy and then covers the lives of men who revived these arts in the Middle Ages: the painters Cimabue and Giotto, the sculptors of the city of Pisa, and the architect Arnolofo di Cambio. Vasari was close to Michelangelo and reserves his highest praise for this artist, whose works he sees as the culmination of the revival of the art of the classical age. For the second edition Vasari included a wider range of painters who lived outside of his favored city of Florence, including some Venetians and non-Italians. Vasari's book, which coined the term Rinascita, or Renaissance, provides many valuable insights for modern historians of the Renaissance, although he worked in an antiquated style that combined historical speculation and fiction with facts as he knew them. His book provided inspiration for many authors and poets, including Honore de Balzac, George Eliot, and Robert Browning, who treated the themes of struggling artists and their works, but more importantly established a foundation for the modern field of art history.

See Also: Florence; Medici, Cosimo de'; Michelangelo Buonarroti

Vasari, Giorgio (1511–74). Italian architect, author, and painter. His Le Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, e scultori italiani (Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors) was published in 1550 and is a prime source of information on Renaissance architecture as well as having been a key document in creating perceptions about the period. An expanded edition came out in 1568. As an architect he made an important contribution to the designs for the Villa Giulia, Rome (1551–5), vetted by Michelangelo and realized by Vignola and Ammannati. In 1555 he settled in Florence to work for Duke Cosimo I de' Medici (1519–74). There, he created his masterpiece, the Uffizi, the Government Offices of the Tuscan State (1560–80s), with façades influenced by Bramante's Belvedere in the Vatican, Michelangelo's Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence, and Peruzzi's Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, Rome. The Uffizi buildings enclose a long piazzetta terminated at the river end by a loggia incorporating a serliana, and was completed by Buontalenti, who designed several Mannerist details, including the Porta delle Suppliche.

At Arezzo Vasari designed the Church of Santi Fiora e Lucilla (1564–86) on a plan resembling that of San Marco, Venice, and the handsome loggia in the Piazza Grande (1570–96). He also carried out several major alterations of church interiors following the Council of Trent (1545–63) which required unimpeded views of the high-altar. His drastic work at Santa Croce (1565–84) and Santa Maria Novella (1565–72), Florence, gave the interiors architectural unity, but also removed many medieval features.

Bibliography

Boase (1979);
M. Hall (1979);
Heydenreich (1996);
Satkowski (1979, 1993);
Jane Turner (1996);
Vasari (1912–15)

Giorgio Vasari , 1511–74, Italian architect, writer, and painter. He is best known for his entertaining biographies of artists, Vite de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori e scultori italiani (1550, rev. ed. 1568). The standard modern edition is that annotated by Gaetano Milanesi (1878), translated into English by Gaston de Vere as Lives of the Artists (10 vol., 1912–14). Vasari is most enlightening in the discussion of his contemporaries and less trustworthy for 14th- and 15th-century artists. His work is the basic source of our knowledge of Renaissance and mannerist artists. A mannerist himself, he executed paintings in the Palazzo Vecchio at Florence and the Sala Regia in the Vatican and made portraits of the Medici. His major architectural works include the Uffizi in Florence and churches and palaces in Arezzo and in Pisa.

Bibliography: See study by E. Rud (1963).

Vasari, Giorgio (1511–74) Italian painter, architect, and biographer. Vasari's fame now rests on his history of Italian art, The Lives of the most excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects (1550). This lively account is the single most important document of Italian Renaissance art. In architecture, he is noted for his design for the Uffizi.

Vasari, Giorgio (1511–74), Italian painter, architect, and author of The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Architects, Painters and Sculptors (1550 and 1568), for generations the main source for the history of Italian art. A selection translated by G. Bull appeared in 1965.