The Collector of Lives: Giorgio Vasari and the Invention of Art

Amazon.com Price: $20.73 (as of 10/11/2019 06:04 PST- Details)

Description

In the tradition of The Swerve and How to Live, this vivid biography reveals how a Renaissance scholar reshaped the visual world.

Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) used to be a man of many talents―a sculptor, painter, architect, author, and scholar―but he’s best known for Lives of the Artists, the classic account that singlehandedly invented the genre of artistic biography and established the canon of Italian Renaissance art. Before Vasari’s peculiar book, art used to be considered a technical skill somewhat than an intellectual pursuit, and artists were mere decorators and craftsmen. It used to be through Vasari’s visionary writings that artists like Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo came to be considered great masters of life in addition to art, their creative genius celebrated as a divine gift. Their enduring reputations testify to Vasari’s profound yet unspoken influence on western culture.

An advisor to kings and pontiffs―and a confidant to Titian, Donatello, and more―Vasari enjoyed an exhilarating career amid the thrilling culture of Renaissance Italy. In The Collector of Lives, Ingrid Rowland and Noah Charney offer a full of life and inviting introduction to this pivotal figure in art history, and immerse readers on the planet of the Medici of Florence and the popes of Rome. A narrative of intrigue, scandal, and colorful artistic rivalry, this vivid biography shows the great works of western art taking shape under Vasari’s keen eye―and reveals how one Renaissance scholar completely redefined how we look at art.

8 pages of color illustrations; 3 maps

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