Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideological foundation of all art-historical writing, and the basis for biographies of several

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

artists, including

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested on ...

and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...

. Vasari designed the ''Tomb of Michelangelo'' in the

Basilica of Santa Croce The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The ...

, Florence that was completed in 1578. Based on Vasari's text in print about

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

's new manner of painting as a ''rinascita'' (rebirth), author

Jules Michelet Jules Michelet (; 21 August 1798 – 9 February 1874) was a French historian and an author on other topics whose major work was a history of France and its culture. His aphoristic style emphasized his anti-clerical republicanism. In Michelet' ...

in his ''Histoire de France'' (1835) suggested adoption of Vasari's concept, using the term ''

'' (rebirth, in French) to distinguish the cultural change. The term was adopted thereafter in historiography and still is in use today.

Life

Vasari was born prematurely on 30 July 1511 in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea lev ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

.Gaunt, W. (ed.) (1962) ''Everyman's dictionary of pictorial art. Volume II.'' London: Dent, p. 328. Recommended at an early age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia, a skillful painter of

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. Sent to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

at the age of sixteen by Cardinal Silvio Passerini, he joined the circle of

Andrea del Sarto Andrea del Sarto (, , ; 16 July 1486 – 29 September 1530) was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early Mannerism. He was known as an outstanding fresco decorator, painter of altar-pieces ...

and his pupils, Rosso Fiorentino and Jacopo Pontormo, where his humanist education was encouraged. He was befriended by

, whose painting style would influence his own. He died on 27 June 1574 in

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...

, aged 62.

Painting

Giorgio Vasari - Six Tuscan Poets - Google Art Project

In 1529, he visited

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where he studied the works of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

and other artists of the Roman High Renaissance. Vasari's own Mannerist paintings were more admired in his lifetime than afterward. In 1547, he completed the hall of the chancery in Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome with frescoes that received the name Sala dei Cento Giorni. He was employed consistently by members of the

Medici family The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mug ...

and Rome, and worked in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

(for example on the Vasari Sacristy), Arezzo, and other places. Many of his paintings still exist, the most important being on the wall and ceiling of the Sala di Cosimo I in the

Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally ...

in Florence, where he and his assistants were at work from 1555. Vasari also helped to organize the decoration of the

Studiolo A cabinet (also known by other terms) was a private room in the houses and palaces of early modern Europe serving as a study or retreat, usually for a man. The cabinet would be furnished with books and works of art, and sited adjacent to his bedc ...

, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio. In Rome, he painted frescos in the ''Sala Regia''. Included among his better-known pupils or followers are Sebastiano Flori, Bartolomeo Carducci,

Mirabello Cavalori Mirabello Cavalori (1535–1572) was an Italian painter of Mannerist style, active mainly in Florence. Cavalori was born in Salincorno, near Montefortino. He was a contemporary of Maso da San Friano and younger than Vasari. The latter pain ...

(Salincorno), Stefano Veltroni (of

Monte San Savino Monte San Savino is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany ( Italy). It is located on the Essa stream in the Valdichiana. Several of its frazioni occupy higher hills, like Gargonza at and Palazzuolo, at an elevation of . Histor ...

), and

Alessandro Fortori Alessandro Fortori (16th-century) was an Italian painter of the Mannerism, Mannerist period. He was born in Arezzo. He was one of the fellow painters from Arezzo, along with Bastiano Flori and Fra Salvatore Foschi, recruited to paint at sundry pr ...

(of Arezzo). His last major commission was vast '' The Last Judgement'' fresco on the ceiling of the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, f ...

of the

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally co ...

that he began in 1572 with the assistance of the Bolognese painter Lorenzo Sabatini. Unfinished at the time of Vasari's death it was completed by Federico Zuccari.

Architecture

Aside from his career as a painter, Vasari was successful as an architect. Firenze - Uffizi

His loggia of the Palazzo degli Uffizi by the

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

opens up the vista at the far end of its long narrow courtyard. It is a unique piece of urban planning that functions as a public piazza, and which, if considered as a short street, is unique as a Renaissance street with a unified architectural treatment. The view of the Loggia from the Arno reveals that, with the Vasari Corridor, it is one of very few structures lining the river that are open to the river and appear to embrace the riverside environment. In Florence, Vasari also built the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, which connects the Uffizi with the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river. The enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the

Ponte Vecchio The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge", ) is a medieval stone closed- spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during the Second World War, it is noted for the shops ...

, and winds around the exterior of several buildings. It was once the home of the Mercado de Vecchio. He renovated the medieval churches of

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The chu ...

and Santa Croce. At both, he removed the original

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

and loft, and remodelled the retro-

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

s in the Mannerist taste of his time. In Santa Croce, he was responsible for the painting of ''The Adoration of the Magi'' that was commissioned by

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

in 1566 and completed in February 1567. It was restored recently, before being put on exhibition in 2011 in Rome and in Naples. Eventually, it will be returned to the church of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo (Province of Alessandria, Piedmont). In 1562, Vasari built the octagonal dome on the

Basilica of Our Lady of Humility In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name t ...

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a ty ...

, an important example of High Renaissance architecture. In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammannati at

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

's Villa Giulia.

''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''

Often called "the first art historian", Vasari invented the genre of the encyclopedia of artistic biographies with his ''Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori'' (''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''), first published in 1550 and dedicated to Grand Duke

Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Life Rise to power Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...

. He was the first to use the term "Rinascita" (rebirth in Italian) in print – although an awareness of an ongoing "rebirth" in the arts had been in the air since the time of Alberti. Vasari's term, applied to the change in artistic styles with the work of Giotto, eventually would become the French term ''Renaissance'' (rebirth) for the era that followed. Vasari was responsible for the modern use of the term Gothic art, as well, although he only used the word ''Goth'' in association with the German style that preceded the rebirth, which he identified as "barbaric". The ''Lives'' also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. The book was partly rewritten and enlarged in 1568, with the addition of woodcut portraits of artists (some conjectural). The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines and tends to attribute to them all the developments in Renaissance art – for example, the invention of

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

. Venetian art in particular (along with arts from other parts of Europe), is ignored systematically in the first edition. Between his first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and while the second edition gave more attention to Venetian art (finally including

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

), it did so without achieving a neutral point of view. Many inaccuracies exist within his ''Lives''. For example, Vasari writes that Andrea del Castagno killed

Domenico Veneziano Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – May 15, 1461) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany. Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then moved ...

, which is incorrect; Andrea died several years before Domenico. In another example, Vasari's biography of Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, whom he calls "Il Soddoma", published only in the second edition of the ''Lives'' (1568) after Bazzi's death, condemns the artist as being immoral, bestial, and vain. Vasari dismisses Bazzi's work as lazy and offensive, despite the artist's having been named a ''Cavaliere di Cristo'' by Pope Leo X and having received important commissions for the Villa Farnese and other sites. Vasari's biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip. Many of his anecdotes have the ring of truth, while others are inventions or generic fictions, such as the tale of young

painting a fly on the surface of a painting by Cimabue that supposedly, the older master repeatedly tried to brush away, a genre tale that echoes anecdotes told of the Greek painter Apelles. He did not research archives for exact dates, as modern art historians do, and naturally, his biographies are most dependable for the painters of his own generation and those of the immediate past generation. Modern criticism – with new materials opened up by research – has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of the ''Lives'', and adds further details about him and his family in his lives of Lazzaro Vasari and Francesco Salviati. According to the historian Richard Goldthwaite, Vasari was one of the earliest authors to use the term "competition" (or "concorrenza" in Italian) in its economic sense. He used it repeatedly, and stressed the concept in his introduction to the life of

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. E ...

, in explaining the reasons for Florentine artistic preeminence. In Vasari's view, Florentine artists excelled because they were hungry, and they were hungry because their fierce competition amongst themselves for commissions kept them so. Competition, he said, is "one of the nourishments that maintain them".

Social standing

Vasari enjoyed high repute during his lifetime and amassed a considerable fortune. He married Niccolosa Bacci, a member of one of the richest and most prominent families of Arezzo. He was made Knight of the Golden Spur by the Pope. He was elected to the municipal council of his native town and finally, rose to the supreme office of

gonfalonier The Gonfalonier (in Italian: ''Gonfaloniere'') was the holder of a highly prestigious communal office in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. The name derives from ''gonfalone'' (in English, gonfalon), the term ...

e. He built a fine house in

in 1547 and decorated its walls and vaults with paintings. It is now a museum in his honour named the Casa Vasari, whilst his residence in Florence is also preserved. In 1563, he helped found the Florentine ''Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno'', with the Grand Duke and Michelangelo as ''capi'' of the institution. Thirty-six artists were chosen as members. Gauvin Alexander Bailey, 'Santi di Tito and the Florentine Academy: Solomon Building the Temple in the Capitolo of the Accademia del Disegno (1570–71)', Apollo CLV, 480 (February 2002): pp. 31–39.

Gallery

File:Alessandro de Medici Ruestung.jpg, ''Alessandro de Medici resting'' File:Douai chartreuse vasari pieta.jpg, ''Pieta'' File:GIORGIO VASARI, JOANNES STRADANUS THE BIRD CATCHERS.jpg, ''Bird catchers'' File:Vasari, Giorgiodel Sarto, Andrea - Holy Family - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Holy Family'', with Andrea del Sarto File:Giorgio vasari, ultima cena, da ss. annunziata a figline, 1567-69, 04.JPG, ''Last Supper'' File:Giorgio Vasari - Entombment - WGA24277.jpg, ''Entombment'' File:Giorgio Vasari - Temptations of St Jerome - WGA24282.jpg, ''Temptations of St. Jerome'' File:Giorgio Vasari - St Luke Painting the Virgin - WGA24311.jpg, ''St. Luke painting the Virgin'' File:Giorgio Vasari - Annunciation - WGA24286.jpg, ''Annunciation'' File:Giorgio Vasari - Justice - WGA24280.jpg, ''Justice'' File:Giorgio Vasari - The Prophet Elisha - WGA24289.jpg, ''The Prophet Elisha'' File:Firenze-interno duomo.jpg, Interior of the dome of

File:Giorgio Vasari - Cosimo studies the taking of Siena - Google Art Project.jpg, Cosimo studies the taking of Siena File:Giorgio Vasari - Apotheosis of Cosimo I - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Apotheosis of
Cosimo I'' File:Giorgio Vasari - Defeat of the Venetians in Casentino - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Defeat of the Venetians in Casentino'' Libro de' Disegni by Giorgio Vasari"> File:Page from "Libro de' Disegni"- 2.jpg, Giorgio Vasari with drawings by Filippino Lippi, Botticelli, and Raffaellino del Garbo File:Page from "Libro de' Disegni"- 1.jpg, Giorgio Vasari with drawings by Filippino Lippi, Botticelli, and Raffaellino del Garbo File:Florenz Uffizien.jpg, Uffizi colonnade and loggia File:Loge de Vasali a Arezzo.JPG, Loggia of Vasari in

File:005San-Pietro-in-Montorio-Rome.jpg, Pietro in Montorio, Rome File:9903 - Firenze - Santa Croce - Tomba di Michelangelo - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 28-Oct-2007.jpg, Tomb of Michelangelo File:Sala dei cento giorni - Giorgio Vasari - 1547 - Palazzo della Cancelleria 1.jpg, Sala dei Cento Giorni - Giorgio Vasari - 1547 - Palazzo della Cancelleria File:Villa Giulia - Court - Vasari - Vignola.jpg, Villa Giulia - Court - Vasari - Vignola File:Loggia del pesce nel MercatoVecchio, Firenze avanti 1885.jpg, Part of Loggia del Mercato Vecchio, Florence, just prior to its demolition in the 1880s

References and sources

References Sources *''The Lives of the Artists'' Oxford University Press, 1998. *''Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Volumes I and II''. Everyman's Library, 1996. *''Vasari on Technique''. Dover Publications, 1980. *''Life of Michelangelo''. Alba House, 2003. *

External links

* * * *
Biography of Vasari and analysis for four major works
*
Giorgio Vasari
– The First Art-Historian Copies of Vasari's ''Lives of the Artists'' online:

Site created by Adrienne DeAngelis. Now largely completed in the posting of the ''Lives'', intended to be re-translated to become the unabridged English version.

1550 Unabridged, original Italian.
''Stories Of The Italian Artists From Vasari''
translated by E L Seeley, 1908. Abridged, in English.

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20031008214109/http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/giorgio.vasari/vaspref.htm Excerpts from the ''Vite'' combined with photos of works mentioned by Vasari. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasari, Giorgio Giorgio Vasari Italian Mannerist painters Italian Mannerist architects 1511 births 1574 deaths Artist authors Italian biographers Italian art historians Italian art critics Italian male non-fiction writers Male biographers Painters from Tuscany People from Arezzo Art technological sources Uffizi 16th-century Italian architects 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian writers 16th-century male writers Biographers of artists Architects of Roman Catholic churches Catholic painters 16th-century biographers