From scandalous gossip to sumptuous paintings, Giorgio Vasari helped shape the Italian Renaissance. This article unpacks everything you need to know about the father of art history.
Born in the Republic of Florence in 1511, Giorgio Vasari was in prime position to watch the Renaissance unfurl over the course of the sixteenth century. He was not happy, however, to be a passive spectator. He involved himself in all manner of artistic developments and built a wide circle of influential friends around him. Discover more about the father of art history over the following 10 facts.
10. As Well As Being A Writer, He Was Also A Painter Himself
Vasari’s The Garden of Gethsemane
Like an increasing number of elite young men, Giorgio Vasari was brought up in the world of art, having trained under the painter Guglielmo da Marsiglia in his hometown of Arezzo and then with Andrea del Sarto in Florence.
Having witnessed the work of some great High Renaissance artists first hand, Vasari took a different approach in his own paintings. He was part of the Mannerist movement that reacted against the harmony and clarity prized by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, replacing these features with a more exaggerated, obscure and complex style. Like his artistic forebears, however, Vasari still incorporated a rich use of color, tricks of perspective that give his paintings depth, and profound subject matter, often religious.
Vasari’s The Adoration of the Magi
Vasari’s Mannerist paintings won him great renown during his lifetime, and earnt him some important commissions. These included the chancery of the Palazzo della Cancellaria in Rome, and the interior fresco of the cupola on Florence Cathedral.
9. He Was Not Only A Homme De Lettres, But Also Put His Artistic And Technical Skills Into Practice As An Architect
The ornate altar at San Pietro de Montorio, Rome. via Wikipedia
Like many of the sixteenth century elite, Vasari was something of a polymath. He constructed the loggia of Florence’s Palazzo degli Uffizi, where crowds now queue for hours for admission into the world-renowned Uffizi Gallery. The loggia, which embraces the Arno at its south end, is practically unique as a cross between an architectural structure and a street.
He performed the vast majority of his architectural work on churches across Tuscany, remodeling two of Florence’s churches in the Mannerist style, and constructing an unusual octagonal dome for a Basilica in Pistoia. He adorned the Santa Croce with a painting commissioned by the Pope, and provided the epic fresco for the inside of Florence Cathedral’s magnificent cupola.
8. He Was Directly Employed By The Most Important Renaissance Family
The ornately geometric ceiling of the Vasari Sacristy
Vasari’s talents attracted the attention of some influential patrons, namely the Medici family. On the commission of Cosimo I, he painted the vault frescoes of the eponymous Vasari Sacristy in Naples, as well as the wall and ceiling paintings in his patron’s own rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
Working for Italy’s most powerful family provided Vasari with the connections, funds and experience he needed to expand his influence among Europe’s elite circles.
7. Vasari Was One Of Italy’s Most Well-Connected Artists
A letter to Vasari in the surprisingly messy hand of Michelangelo. Photo via Magenta Florence
In the artists’ studios of Florence, Vasari had mingled with a number of other aspiring artists as a young man. Most notable among these was Michelangelo, who would prove a lifelong inspiration and friend. Their correspondences still exist, with each man heaping praise on the other, and Michelangelo even composing a poem to celebrate Vasari’s talent.
As Vasari became a more prominent artist, his network of connections grew, and he eventually counted Giorgione, Titian and many other Renaissance artists among his acquaintances.
6. As Well As Peers, He Acquired A Strong Following Of Younger Artists
A piece by Vasari himself, showing St Luke painting the Virgin Mary while two admirers or students look on.
Vasari may have been inspired by the likes of Michelangelo, but many great younger artists found their inspiration in him. These young men were mainly based in Arezzo, where Vasari had his first studio.
Among them were the famous fresco painter, Carducho, who later emigrated from Italy to Spain to work for Philip II. As was typical for the time, Vasari enlisted the help of these apprentices for some of his major projects, such as the cupola of Florence Cathedral, which was actually completed by his assistant Federico Zuccari.
5. These Acquaintances Equipped Him With Everything He Needed To Compose His Magnum Opus
The engraved title page from the second, expanded edition of Vasari’s Lives of the Artists.
In 1550, Vasari published a collection of biographies, compiled under the title Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori (The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects). This encyclopedic work was dedicated to Cosimo I and consisted of hundreds of accounts documenting the lives of Europe’s most famous artists. It is infamousfor the scandalous gossip and amusing anecdotes Vasari reveals. From the sexual misdemeanors of Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, nicknamed ‘Il Soddoma’, to the many irrational fears and vexations of Piero di Cosimo, the author refuses to spare even the most intimate details.
A self-portrait of Giorgio Vasari. Photo taken by Jacopo Zucchi
Although Vasari worked on The Lives rigorously, there are numberless errors, inaccuracies and biases. Unsurprisingly, he gives most of the credit for Renaissance developments to the Florentines, deliberately excluding the craftsman of Venice from his first edition. However, in the second, enlarged edition (1568) he does include Titian.
A particularly famous stories appears in Titian’s biography: Vasari had arranged a meeting between Titian and Michelangelo. After exchanging compliments to one another, the two Florentines left and swiftly began to complain about how poor the Venetian’s drawing actually were.
4. As Well As Providing An Amusing Source Of Scandalous Gossip, The Lives Of The Artists Marked An Important Moment In Art History
The chapter of the work dedicated to the life of Michaelangelo.
In compiling The Lives, Vasari became responsible for the first modern work of art history. In fact, he paved the way for all future art historians by showing that the theory and analysis of art could be just as valuable as its creation.
It is in the pages of The Lives that the word ‘Renaissance’, or ‘Rinascita’, is first printed, an important moment in the history of art. Vasari was also the first author to use the term ‘Gothic’ in relation to art, as well as introducing the concept of economic ‘competition’ into the field of painting.
And that of Giorgione
3. His Talents Made Vasari Richer Than Many Of His Famous Friends
The interior of a single room of Vasari’s house in Arezzo
The Medici patronage and popularity of The Lives meant that Vasari amassed a vast fortune during his life. He occupied a wonderfully grand house in Arezzo that he had built and decorated himself, and married the daughter of one of the town’s richest families.
Vasari’s prestige also continued to grow as he became older: the Pope made him a Knight of the Golden Spur and he later founded an artistic academy in Florence alongside Michelangelo. His material wealth and social influence proved that Vasari had truly reached the pinnacle of Italy’s elite.
2. His Legacy Has Remained Just As Impressive
Vasari’s Battle of Marciano, featured in Dan Brown’s Inferno. Photo by Federica Antonelli
The Lives has rarely been out of print since it was first published, remaining an invaluable tool for art historians and amateur enthusiasts alike. So popular has it proved that rare or early editions of the work regularly sell for huge sums of money. In 2014, for instance, an example of the important 1568 edition sold at Sotheby’s for £20,000.
Vasari’s legacy has also permeated into popular culture, with his famous fresco of The Battle of Marciano appearing as a clue in Dan Brown’s famous book, Inferno. The characters investigate the mysterious ‘cerca trova’ (‘seek and find’) message painted on a distant banner, and also scrutinize the works hung in the Vasari Corridor in the Palazzo Vecchio.
Vasari Himself Was An Avid Art Collector
The Last Judgement, a fresco on the interior of Florence’s famous cupola, commissioned by Cosimo d’Medici.
As well as being a ‘collector of lives’, Vasari also gathered a huge collection of art through his relationships with the Renaissance’s most prominent craftsmen.
As part of his role in the Medici’s employ, Vasari was responsible for curating and displaying the family’s vast archive of paintings and sculptors, essentially transforming the Medici court into a museum or gallery. His aim was to immortalize the memory of Italy’s greatest artists.
At the age of 17, Vasari received a gift of drawings from the grandson of Lorenzo Ghiberti, a gesture which inspired him with a life-long appreciation of drawings, which were often overlooked in favor of completed paintings. He eagerly collected sketches over the following decades, which led to their acceptance as valuable pieces of art. Naturally, Vasari also received countless paintings from his admirers and students, growing a collection that cemented his position as one of art history’s most important figures.
By Mia ForbesBA in ClassicsMia is a contributing writer from London, with a passion for literature and history. She holds a BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge. Both at work and at home, Mia is surrounded by books, and enjoys writing about great works of fiction and poetry. Her first translation is due to be published next year.
3 Breathtaking Artworks At The Vasari Sacristy In Naples
Many call the Vasari Sacristy in Naples a miniature Sistine Chapel. It takes its name from Renaissance artist Giorgio Vasari, who covered its ceiling in Tuscan Mannerist-style frescoes.
Detail from Lamentation Over the Body of Christ by Guido Mazzoni, 1492-94 (left); with Ceiling Frescoes in the Vasari Sacristy by Giorgio Vasari, 1545 (right)
The Vasari Sacristy is located in the Sant’Anna dei Lombardi church in Naples. Another name for the church is the Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto. The entire complex spans many rooms that belonged to the Olivetans, who were a congregation of monks founded in 1319.
The church was built in 1411, and the Vasari Sacristy used to be a refectory for monks to take communal meals. Church authorities renovated it into a sacristy or a room to keep sacred objects, in 1688. Since then, many visitors note the Vasari Sacristy as one of the most marvelous rooms to visit in Naples.
The Vasari Sacristy was named after Giorgio Vasari, who created what is essentially the pièce de resistance of the church. Below, we’ll take a closer look at his marvelous frescoes, and other lifelike art in this expansive complex in three parts.
1. Giorgio Vasari’s Frescoes: Church Values And Celestial Bodies In The Vasari Sacristy
Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) was a major artist and architect in Renaissance Italy. He designed the loggia at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, and Lorenzo de Medici was one of his patrons. Many regard him as one of the first art historians because of his publication Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. In it, Vasari wrote about the life of fellow Renaissance men like Michelangelo.
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His art style, as we’ll see in the Vasari Sacristy, leans toward Tuscan Mannerism more than the High Renaissance. In the latter, artists tried to capture ideal notions of natural beauty and proportion. Think of Michelangelo’sPieta for example. Tuscan Mannerism took this ideal beauty and exaggerated its features, taking it into the realm of ethereal high elegance.
In 1545, Vasari received the commission to paint frescoes for the refectory ceiling. He almost declined because it had narrow walls characteristic of Gothic architecture. This made it look darker, and Vasari worried that it would detract from the beauty of his work.
Instead, he found a way to renovate it by using stucco to smooth out clumsy walls and brighten the base for painting. Then, he divided the vaults of the Sacristy into three themes. The octagons at the center of each represent Faith, Religion, and Eternity. Each one is surrounded by other symbols of the values the monks should lead throughout their lives.
Frescoes of Wisdom (left); with Abundance (right) by Giorgio Vasari, 1545, photographed by Guiseppe Guida
Eternity is accompanied by Fortress, Justice, and Wisdom. Wisdom is portrayed as the Greek goddess Minerva, holding her iconic sword and armor above. The third, Religion, is at the center of Silence, Charity, Concordia, and Goodness.
While these symbols form the biggest figures in the ceilings, there are also 48 stunning grotesques between them. Grotesques in Renaissance Italy are notable for portraying fantastical, hybrid creatures that defy the laws of physics. Together, Vasari’s grotesques scale the heaven’s constellations and Zodiac signs. See the examples of the constellation Lyra and Gemini. The humanoid birds perched on the top sides are curious and vivid examples of grotesque-style art.
Grotesque Fresco of the Zodiac Gemini (left); with Grotesque Fresco of Constellation Lyra (right) by Giorgio Vasari, 1545
Vasari’s own writing shows that he was a fan of grotesques. He admired Giovanni da Udine, an artist who painted for the Loggia of Pope Leo X, by describing,
“these grotesques… executed with so much design, with fantasies so varied and so bizarre… and with their little scenes so pleasing and beautiful, entered so deeply into the heart and mind of Giovanni…”
It appears they entered into the heart of Vasari, too. His gorgeous fresco and grotesque ceiling have earned the Vasari Sacristy the nickname of a “small Sistine Chapel in the Heart of Naples.”
2. Wooden Inlays by Giovanni da Verona: Capturing Faith and Daily Life in Naples
Fra Giovanni da Verona (1457-1525) was a monk and skilled woodworker. He’s credited for doing the marquetry and bell tower of the Santa Maria in Organo in Verona, Italy. Little is known about his youth or family, but we know he entered a monastery in 1475 that belonged to the Olivetans.
Fra Bastian Virgola was a fellow Olivetan who founded a school of timber masters that flourished in their community. Since Virgola lived in the same monastery from 1477-1478, it’s possible that da Verona learned woodworking under him.
Verona completed the wooden inlays that line the walls of the Vasari Sacristy sometime around 1506. Yet, the church only adopted them to this room after it was turned into a Sacristy a century later.
Wooden Inlay with a view of the Maschio Angioino Towers by Giovanni da Verona, 1506
These are delicate carvings, some of which are no thicker than a pencil. In it, you’ll find detailed, complex carvings of city views and religious symbolism. Take the inlay of Maschio Angioino (English: Angevin Keep) above, for example. Il Maschio Angioino, also known as Castel Nuovo (or new castle), was built in the 1200s and surrounded by moats. This castle was the royal seat for several kings of Naples, Aragon, and Spain until 1815.
Above, we see its towers elevated in the distance as if we’re a monk admiring it from a far-off passage. It was, and remains, a remarkable architectural landmark of the city.
Wooden inlay of goldfinch and hourglass (left); with Wooden inlay of a Rabbit (right) by Giovanni da Verona, 1506
Other inlays employ a creative illusion of doors opening up to you, the viewer. In the piece above, it opens to reveal a goldfinch in a cave just above a candle and an hourglass. Goldfinches were popular pets in Naples and could symbolize the soul since they were winged creatures like angels. Hourglasses, on the other hand, symbolized the passage of time– And therefore, death.
Another inlay combines both cityscapes with religious iconography. Rabbits, for example, represent resurrection or new life in Christianity.
3. Guido Mazzoni’s Sculptures Outside The Vasari Sacristy
It’s worth noting that this piece isn’t directly in the Vasari Sacristy. It’s in the Chapel of Mourning; however, they’re both in the same complex and are worth visiting on the same day. This piece’s attention to emotional detail and realistic statue make it worth the mention.
Il Compianto sul Cristo Morto (Lamentation over the Dead Christ) (1492) is a piece by Guido Mazzoni (1445 – 1518). Mazzoni was a terracotta sculptor from Modena, Italy, who was also called Il Modanino. Modena was not a major hub of the Renaissance, so much of Mazzoni’s early work was theatrical, yet realistic masks for festivals or performances. But by 1485, he created one of a similar Lamentation for the church of Santa Maria della Rosa in Ferrara.
In this version from 1492, we see eight figures looking over Jesus Christ’s dead body. The Virgin Mary, who stands over her son, is noteworthy for her grief-stricken expression. A closer look at any of the faces shows a different range of expressions of grief.
Patrons didn’t consider terracotta as refined as marble. Despite this, Mazzoni’s lifelike sculptures achieved success. In his career, he created at least six sculptures of the Lamentation, one of which is in the Church of the Gesù in Ferrara, Italy.
The Sant’Anna dei Lombardi church also houses work by sculptor Benedetto da Maiano and Antonio Rossellino. These, combined with the Vasari Sacristy, make it a marvel and hotspot to visit for Renaissance art in Naples.
By Jacqueline MartinezBA English WritingJacqueline Martinez graduated with her BA in English (Writing & Rhetoric, to be fancy) in 2019. During her time in college, she worked in a Miami-based art gallery. She has attended major art fairs like Art Basel and Art Miami, recording new exhibitions and art trends in her articles. In 2018, she studied abroad in France, where she learned about art history in some of the world’s major museums. Since graduating, she has aimed to keep learning while passing on her experiences to those who are novices like she once was.
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