Customer Reviews

Vasari's Lives of the Artists: Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

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It's the most common required book on university Art History lists, and every passing student will have read it. It is an important source for what the artist was thinking and what his reputation was in his own time. Most of Art History is modern interpretation simply because there aren't many written records. They don't all write endlessly about themselves like many people do these days. In the case of Renaissance Italy they had Vasari to do it for them. He isn't always truthful or right about what he says (since many of the early artists were already dead and many others were in places he couldn't get to for interviews, a good deal of his biographies were based on rumors, stories and what would nowadays be called hearsay accounts) but he's the best we've got, and he's worth reading. Even the non-art historian, a person who likes art and wonders what it was like in the renaissance for artists, will find this interesting and informative. It's actually more interesting (as is everything I find) when you're not being forced to read it, so if you're in between classes, haven't started art history classes yet or are just an independant student of art in general, pick this up, it's reasonably priced, and it's worth having on your shelf.

EXcellent review and insight into the lives of the Italian artists who were the significant contributors to the Italian rennaisence of the 14-17the century. A must read for those interested in this history