Snag The Lives Of The Artists Illustrated By Giorgio Vasari Expressed As Softcover

is my first candidate for the "what if you were marooned on a desert island" list.
Listened to the Naxos abridged audio version Giorgio Vasariwas an artist, architect, and friend to Michelangelo, so his sketches of the lives of Italian artists from theth to theth centuries is of special interest its art history by a guy who was essentially right there.


The editors of this version wisely pared down the number of artists that Vasari actually wrote about, which he broke into three parts.
The first covers Cimabue and Giotto, the two who began breaking from Byzantine forms to usher in the Renaissance, the second includes Ghiberti, Masaccio, Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Botticelli among others from theth andth centuries, and the third includes Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
My mind boggles at that last magnificent threesome, and how they were all together in the same place at the same time, even if they didnt get along together all that well.


Vasari gets his dates mixed up at times, and sometimes misattributes artwork, but he has a great eye as an art critic, and certainly gets the spirit of these men right.
Here is how he opens the chapter on Leonardo: “In the normal course of events many men and women are born with various remarkable qualities and talents but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvelously endowed by heaven with beauty, grace, and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired”

I confess its a little tough to read through some sections of this book, as Vasari has a tendency to abbreviate the actual lives of these artists and describes their work one piece after another in detail, so I skimmed at times.
Much better in a modern edition would be an illustrated book with color insets interleaved, As it was, I spent a lot of time looking up art online, which was fun in its own right, but hit or miss in terms of finding specific work.
I would also recommend skipping his prefaces to the three parts altogether,

However, with that said, the personal stories and anecdotes recorded by Vasari are priceless, andstar nuggets of gold.
Heres a sample:

Giotto drawing a perfect red circle without moving his arm when a courtier of Pope Benedict IX was sent for a sample of his work.


Donatello getting angry at Brunelleschi for his criticism of a crucifix, saying Get some wood and do it yourself, and then marveling at what Brunelleschi later produced.
Donatellos generosity with workmen and friends while he was alive, and then leaving his small farm to a peasant instead of greedy relatives because he deserved it more.


Brunelleschis initial proposals for the dome of the Duomo in Florence being met with ridicule, and after heated exchanges, being carried out as onlookers thought he was deranged.
Later, after his plan was accepted, his anger at Ghiberti being named coarchitect, and doing everything he could to get him removed.


Fra Filippo Lippi being seized at sea by Moorish galleys and taken captive to Barbary in chains, where he would spend a year and a half before impressing his master with his artistic ability so much that he was freed.
This same Fra Filippo being so lustful after women that Cosimo de Medici locked him up, only to have him escape to satisfy his desires.


On seeing birds for sale, Da Vinci paying the price asked, and then setting them free.
Da Vincis inventions, drawings, and dissections that he documented with characters written in reverse with the left hand.


Da Vinci spending long hours contemplating next steps in his painting, having a prior getting impatient and pressing him to hurry up and finish, and Da Vinci telling a duke that he could make the prior the model for Judas if necessary, much to the dukes delight.
Similarly, Michelangelos struggles with Popes who were impatient at times, insulting at others, once causing him to storm off, pack up and leave town.


Da Vinci painting Mona Lisa, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and while doing so, “employing singers and musicians or jesters to keep her face full of merriment and so chase away the melancholy that painters usually give to portraits.
” Think of that next time you contemplate her smile,

The animosity and rivalry between Leonardo and Michelangelo, as well as Raphael sneaking in to see Michelangelos Sistine Chapel before it was done, and adapting his own art as a result.


Giorgione becoming afflicted with the plague from his lover, and dying at, Similarly, Raphaels lifelong love of mistress Margarita Luti, who he painted a couple of times, as well as his “great fondness for women” and practice of “always indulging his sexual appetites” upon returning from one such session of excess with a violent fever, being bled to no avail, and dying tragically at.


Michelangelo being beaten by his father and older brothers as a youth because he was so obsessed with drawing.
A rival artist, Torrigiano, later breaking his nose out of jealousy so badly it marked Michelangelo for life.


Michelangelo getting the block of marble that he would sculpt his David out of from basically a discard pile, the block having been previously used unsuccessfully by another artist, Simone da Fiesole.


This may be a good book to bring along while touring Florence or Rome, It may not be perfect as history or always captivating in its storytelling, but it is pretty unique to invite someone fromyears ago into your study, and to have him tell you stories about artists you revere.
More about artists than art, this book is a fascinating compendium of artists over ayear period, documenting how they worked and lived.
While there are some curious vignettes of artists illustrating their eccentricity and passion, the parts of the book I loved beat were the parts where Vasari describes the artists love of art.
How it moves, occupies and elevates artists in powerful ways, Any crafts person, including those of us in technology is likely to find this touching and inspirational.


I sure wish the book had actual illustrations to go with descriptions of the artists work.
Also, it was a bonus to learn that the author was an artist himself, that lived during the time of Michelangelo! Cool read overall.
Gave up a merechapters in, It is very difficult to read about a whole catalogue of paintings when you don't have the pictures in front of you.

I may dip into this again as I come across the artists described on my History of Art course.
Didn't hate it, didn't love it, It felt repetitive after theth page and it became more about finishing rather than learning about Renaissance artists.
Besides the fact that The Lives Of The Artists is not the most accurate, dates, names, events, etc.
, this is a very important historical document, It has a lot of valuable information and the anecdotes are very entertaining, And it could have been even more interesting to read for an art lover, or anyone who is simply curious, if only it had at least some illustrations.
Vasari takes a lot of time to describe the works of the artists in details, but its still hard to imagine them.
The subject for the art commissions in these days was mostly biblical scenes, some mythology, portraits, and how many times is it possible to be excited to read the description of the nativity or annunciation for example No matter how much the author was trying to share his admiration and described the beauty of the work, in the world of the visual arts visual information is crucial.
Every artist was making the subject unique through their own way of expressing it, So if you are not familiar with some artworks be prepared to use google search, it will undoubtedly enrich your experience.

The creators of this edition, it seems to me, have been either limited by some orders or a budget, or simply not interested to make it into something that helps even more people to fall in love with the Renaissance art.
Since I am already in love with it, have enjoyed reading this book anyway, In the beginning there was the void, and then came Cimabue, who taught Giotto, and there, from the endless flatness of High Gothic altarpieces, came the Renaissance.
So things appear from this book, which is colourful and opinionated and highly subjective, yet has been utterly formative in our views of Italian Renaissance painting and on the practice of art history.
It's also very, very long I read this as prep for a trip to Florence, and it wasn't a bad idea, but I'm not enough of a hardcore fan to care about all the lesser lights between Giotto and Titian.
And my twovolume edition, I believe, was still abridged! Expecting a somewhat dry book from ath Century Italian author, this was easier and more enjoyable to read than I expected.
Rather than being formalistic and pompous, this book is full of saucy and funny anecdotes about the Renaissance artists that preceded Vasari, some of whom he knew personally.

The classical rollcall that we know, from Cimabue to Giotto, via Ucello, Bruneleschi, Ghiberti to da Vinci and Michelangelo is often atrributed to Vasari and this is probably correct.
However, Vasari has also been accused of being the cause of the traditional neglect of the Northern Renaissance Flemish, German and Scandinavian art, but this seems unfair having read Vasari's work.
He

is clearly intent on writing about the artists of Florence and Tuscany with the occasional foray to Mantua, Rome and Venice where it can't be avoided.
I found two mentions of German artists Duerer being one of them, and these were respectful references, just not part of what he set himself out to do.

To my surprise in the introduction Vasari blames the socalled Dark Ages that followed the Roman Empire not just on invading barbarians Goths, Vandals and Lombards, but also on the narrowminded, bigoted Christian church of theth andth Century covered in greater depth in Catherine Nixey's "The Darkening Age".
I would have thought that such an opinion was enough to get one hung, drawn and quartered in Vasari's time, but apparently not so.

It was interesting to read that Vasari describes several of the artists as having been unteachable and wild in their youth, to the despair of their parents, who then palmed them off on nearby goldsmiths or artist studios, and the rest is history.
Now we appear to give such children Ritalin and say they suffer from ADHD, Some progress!
This book is most enjoyable for its anecdotes and interesting snippets of information, such as that Michelangelo's magnificent David statue was cut out of a large block of marble messed up by another sculptor, and that was just sitting around because of the messup.
Or that pope Julius II hit Michelangelo with a stick at one point and threatened to have him "fall" of his scaffolds if he didn't hurry up.
It took me a little while to realise that when Julius II commissions Michelangelo to paint frescos for the "hall of Sixtus" he is talking about the famous Sistine Chapel.

I was myself lucky enough to see the Sistine Chapel agedon a school trip as well as the "Pieta" in St Peter's she looks "too young" said a contemporary critic about the marble version of Mary with the body of Jesus in her arms.

This is well worth reading if you're interested in the history of European art, .