| Giorgio Vasari | |
 Vasari's self-portrait |
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| Born | 30 July 1511 Arezzo, Tuscany |
| Died | 27 June 1574 Florence, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Field | Painting, architect |
| Training | Andrea del Sarto |
| Movement | Renaissance |
| Works | Biographies of Italian artists |
Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, who is today famous for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Arezzo ( Latin Arretium) is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Andrea del Sarto (1486 &ndash 1531 was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early- Mannerism The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account Art history is the Academic study of objects of Art in their Historical development and stylistic contexts i
Contents |
Biography
Vasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany. Arezzo ( Latin Arretium) is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 Recommended at an early age by his cousin Luca Signorelli, he became a pupil of Guglielmo da Marsiglia, a skillful painter of stained glass. Luca Signorelli (c 1445 - October 16, 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was noted in particular for his ability as a draughtsman Guglielmo da Marsiglia ( 1475 - 1537) is an Italian painter of Stained glass of the 16th century For the Blackford Oakes novel see Stained Glass (novel The term stained glass refers either to the material of coloured Glass or to the art Sent to Florence at the age of sixteen by Cardinal Silvio Passerini, he joined the circle of Andrea del Sarto and his pupils Rosso Fiorentino and Jacopo Pontormo where his humanist education was encouraged. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Andrea del Sarto (1486 &ndash 1531 was an Italian painter from Florence, whose career flourished during the High Renaissance and early- Mannerism Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (1494-1540 known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "the Red Florentine" in Italian or Il Rosso, was an Italian Jacopo Carucci ( May 24, 1494 — January 2, 1557) usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, Jacopo Pontormo or simply He was befriended by Michelangelo whose painting style would influence his own. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Two biographies were published of him during his lifetime One of them by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that he was the pinnacle of all
In 1529 he visited Rome and studied the works of Raphael and others of the Roman High Renaissance. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and The High Renaissance, in the History of art, denotes the culmination of the art of the Italian Renaissance between 1450 and 1527 Vasari's own Mannerist paintings were more admired in his lifetime than afterwards. Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. He was consistently employed by patrons in the Medici family in Florence and Rome, and he worked in Naples, Arezzo and other places. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the Many of his pictures still exist, the most important being the wall and ceiling paintings in the great Sala di Cosimo I of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where he and his assistants were at work from 1555, and his uncompleted frescoes inside the vast cupola of the Duomo, completed by Federico Zuccari and with the help of Giovanni Balducci. The Palazzo Vecchio (IPA pronunciation vɛkio (Italian for Old Palace is the town hall of Florence, Italy Fresco (plural either frescos or frescoes) is any of several related Painting types done on Plaster on walls or In Architecture, a cupola or lantern is a radially symmetrical ornamental structure (often dome-shaped or quadrilateral located on top of a larger The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the Cathedral church ( Duomo) of Florence, Italy. Federico Zuccari, also known as Federigo Zuccaro (c 1542/ 1543 - July 20 1609) was an Italian Mannerist painter Giovanni Balducci, called Il Cosci after his maternal uncle (c He also helped organize the decoration of the Studiolo, now reassembled in the Palazzo Vecchio. The Studiolo was a small painting-encrusted barrel-vaulted room in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, commissioned by Francesco I de' Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany
As an architect, Vasari was perhaps more successful than as a painter. The loggia of the Palazzo degli Uffizi by the Arno opens up the vista at the far end of its long narrow courtyard, a unique piece of urban planning that functions as a public piazza, and which, if considing it as a short street, is the unique Renaissance street with a unified architectural treatment. Loggia is the name given to an Architectural feature originally of Italian design which is often a gallery or Corridor generally on the ground The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Uffizi one of the oldest and most famous Art Museums in the world is housed in the Palazzo degli Uffizi, a In Florence Vasari also built the long passage connecting the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace, through arcading across the Ponte Vecchio, now called Vasari Corridor after him. The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance Palace in History and construction The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point where it is believed that a bridge was first built in Roman times when the Via Cassia The Vasari Corridor (Corridoio Vasariano is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence which connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti, passing He also renovated the fine medieval churches of Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, from both of which he removed the original rood screen and loft, and remodelled the retro-choir in the Mannerist taste of his time. Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy situated just across the main railway station which shares its name The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a Minor basilica of the The rood screen (also choir screen or chancel screen) is a common feature in late Medieval parish Church architecture. For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers
In Rome, Vasari worked with Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Bartolomeo Ammanati at Pope Julius III's Villa Giulia. Giacomo (or Jacopo) Barozzi (or Barocchio) da Vignola, often simply called Vignola ( October 1 1507 - July Bartolomeo Ammanati ( June 18 1511 - April 13 1592) was a Florentine Architect and sculptor. Pope Julius III ( September 10, 1487 &ndash March 23, 1555) born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was Pope from This page describes the building For the museum itself see National Etruscan Museum.
Vasari enjoyed a high repute during his lifetime and amassed a considerable fortune. In 1547 he built himself a fine house in Arezzo (now a museum honoring him), and spent much labour in decorating its walls and vaults with paintings. He was elected one of the municipal council or priori of his native town, and finally rose to the supreme office of gonfaloniere. The Gonfaloniere was a highly prestigious communal post in Medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence.
In 1563, he helped found the Florence Accademia del Disegno (now the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze), with the Grand Duke and Michelangelo as capi of the institution and 36 artists chosen as members. The Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno ("Academy of the Art of Drawing" is an art academy in Florence, Italy.
Vasari died at Florence on 27 June 1574. Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden
The Vite
As the first Italian art historian, he initiated the genre of an encyclopedia of artistic biographies that continues today. Vasari coined the term "Renaissance" (rinascita) in print, though an awareness of the ongoing "rebirth" in the arts had been in the air from the time of Alberti. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Leon Battista Alberti ( February 14, 1404 &ndash April 25, 1472) was an Italian author artist Architect, Poet Vasari's work was first published in 1550, and dedicated to Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici. Cosimo I de' Medici (June 12 1519 &ndash April 21 1574 was Duke of Florence from 1537 to 1574 reigning as the first Grand It included a valuable treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts. It was partly rewritten and enlarged in 1568 and provided with woodcut portraits of artists (some conjectural), entitled Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori (or, in English, Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects). A portrait is a painting, photograph, Sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person in which the face and its expression is predominant The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters Sculptors and Architects, or Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori scultori ed architettori as it was originally known The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters Sculptors and Architects, or Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori scultori ed architettori as it was originally known
The work has a consistent and notorious bias in favour of Florentines and tends to attribute to them all the new 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 Venetian art in particular, let alone other parts of Europe, is systematically ignored. Between his first and second editions, Vasari visited Venice and the second edition gave more attention to Venetian art (finally including Titian) without achieving a neutral point of view. Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c 1485 &ndash August 27 1576 better known as Titian, was the leading painter of the 16th-century Venetian
Vasari's biographies are interspersed with amusing gossip. Many of his anecdotes have the ring of truth, although likely inventions. Others are generic fictions, such as the tale of young Giotto painting a fly on the surface of a painting by Cimabue that the older master repeatedly tried to brush away, a genre tale that echoes anecdotes told of the Greek painter Apelles. Cenni di Pepo (Giovanni Cimabue (c 1240 — c 1302 also known as Bencivieni di Pepo or in modern Italian Benvenuto di Giuseppe was an Italian painter and creator With a few exceptions, however, Vasari's aesthetic judgment was acute and unbiased. 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 the immediately preceding one. Modern criticism—with all the new materials opened up by research—has corrected many of his traditional dates and attributions. The work remains a classic even today, though it must be supplemented by modern critical research.
Vasari includes a sketch of his own biography at the end of his Vite, and adds further details about himself and his family in his lives of Lazzaro Vasari and Francesco Salviati. Francesco de' Rossi (1510-1563 was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence, also active in Rome. The Lives have been translated into French, German, Spanish and English.
Copies of Vasari’s Lives of the Artists Online
- “Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Artists.” Website created by Adrienne DeAngelis. Currently incomplete, intended to be unabridged, in English.
- “Le Vite." 1550 Unabridged, original Italian.
- “Stories Of The Italian Artists From Vasari.” Translated by E L Seeley, 1908. Abridged, in English.
- Le Vite - Edizioni Giuntina e Torrentiniana
- Gli artisti principali citati dal Vasari nelle "Vite" (elenco)
References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
- The Lives of the Artists (Oxford World's Classics). Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-283410-X
- Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, Volumes I and II. Everyman's Library, 1996. ISBN 0-679-45101-3
- Vasari on Technique. Dover Publications, 1980. ISBN 0-486-20717-X
- Life of Michelangelo. Alba House, 2003. ISBN 0-8189-0935-8
- Biography of Vasari and analysis for four major works
- Brief Vita
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