Lives of the Most Eminent Painters: A Complete Collection

Description

The book that invented art history — written 500 years ago. Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) — painter, architect, courtier of the Medici — invented art history with this book. Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, first published in 1550 and expanded in 1568, gathers the biographies of the great Italian artists from Cimabue and Giotto through Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo — whom Vasari knew personally.

Part history, part gossip, part passionate advocacy, the Lives is where the idea of the Renaissance itself was born: Vasari coined “rinascita” — rebirth — for the revival of classical art. His vivid, opinionated portraits mix documented fact with legend and anecdote; scholars have corrected his errors for centuries, but no one has replaced him as a storyteller.

All the lives in one volume — the triumphs, rivalries, and tragedies of the artists who shaped Western art. For nearly five hundred years, the essential, irresistible first guide to the art of Italy.

Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) — painter, architect, and courtier of the Medici — invented art history with this book. Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, first published in 1550 and expanded in 1568, gathers the biographies of the great Italian artists from Cimabue and Giotto through Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo, whom Vasari knew personally.

Part history, part gossip, part passionate advocacy, the Lives is where the idea of the Renaissance itself was born: Vasari coined the term “rinascita” — rebirth — to describe the revival of classical art. His vivid, opinionated portraits mix documented fact with legend and anecdote, and while scholars have corrected his errors for centuries, no one has replaced him as a storyteller.

This complete collection brings together all the lives in one volume — the triumphs, rivalries, and tragedies of the artists who shaped Western art. For students, artists, and anyone who loves the stories behind the masterpieces, Vasari remains what he has been for nearly five hundred years: the essential, irresistible first guide to the art of Italy.