Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects: Volume 1

About the series

The finest editions available of the world's greatest classics from Homer to Achebe, Tolstoy to Ishiguro, Proust to Pullman, printed on a fine acid-free, cream-wove paper that will not discolour with age, with sewn, full cloth bindings and silk ribbon markers, and at remarkably low prices. All books include substantial introductions by major scholars and contemporary writers, and comparative chronologies of literary and historical context.

About Giorgio Vasari

Born in Arezzo, Tuscany, in 1511, Giorgio Vasari was a versatile artist. Painter, architect, art collector, writer and historian, he is primarily acknowledged today as the author of The Lives of the Most Celebrated Painters, Sculptors and Architects. A foundational book of art history; it has acted as the prototype for all biographies of artists. Vasari had a prolific career in the city, working for the Medici family, notably for Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He cultivated friendships with many artists, including Michelangelo, who influenced his style. Unusually well-educated for an artist of his time, the 1540s, Vasari became involved in chronicling the lives, times and works of the great artists of what he called the Renaissance, defining the term as we understand it today. 1550 saw publication of the first edition of the Lives of the Painters in Florence.
Vasari died on 27 June 1574, while at work decorating the dome of the cathedral in Florence.
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