Customer Reviews

Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Everyman's Library)

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all at once alien and familiar. Other, cheaper, heavily abridged, versions of this book are available, but if you want the complete rainbow of "famous Renaissance artist" biographies (and some not so famous), written by a fellow artist who actually knew many of the most important figures about whom he wrote (and not just artists: Vasari worked for popes and secular princes who also sponsored the greatest artists of the time), this is it, and really good value for the price. There is one omission in De Vere's early 20th-century rendering of Vasari's huge book: the fascinating Technical Preface with which Vasari introduced the actual historical narratives of the Lives. Fortunately, this is available in an affordable Dover edition (Vasari On Technique). Like his opinions on individual masters, Vasari's historical "facts" will always require current scholarly verification, especially with reference to the artists from the earlier phases of what Vasari called the era of "modern artistic style." But he's the closest we have to an articulate eyewitness account of that amazing time, and even his prejudices and misconceptions are full of interest.

I received my copy yesterday. All the artists who have been mentioned in scholarly writings can be found here at last! This 2-volume edition is worth every penny!

I took a Master's level Art History class on Giorgia Vasari at FSU a few years ago and this was the translation of the book that the professor wanted us to buy for the class. And for good reason. It's probably the most complete and accurate translation of Vasari's works out there and is downright affordable in this edition (yes $44 is affordable for this. It's a nice two volume edition with a slipcover to store the books in and the books themselves have a nice sturdy binding. If you have to buy a translation of Vasari's works or just want to explore what the first art historian wrote, you can't go wrong with this edition.

Good fun. Not to read continuously but to dip into when the mood strikes you. On the one hand gossipy on the other hand it constitutes the considered judgment of a talented painter on what I consider to be the greatest era of painting and sculpture in the history of the World. Being Italian may influence my opinion, but not too much. Vasari is not always 100% accurate, and he favors the Florentines, but is always interesting. As the Italians say, "Se non e' vero e' ben trovato".