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Lives of the Artists: A Selection v. 1 (Classics) by: Giorgio Vasari List Price: £9.99 City Travel Guides Price: £6.74 You Save: £3.25 (33%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 709 EAN: 9780140445008 ISBN: 0140445005 Label: Penguin Classics Manufacturer: Penguin Classics Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 480 Publication Date: August 27, 1987 Publisher: Penguin Classics Studio: Penguin Classics Sales Rank: 81023 Related Items:
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Editorial Review: Book Information: Cimabue watching the young Giotto scratching his first drawings on a stone; Donatello gaping at Brunelleschi's Crucifix; Michelangelo "altering" the nose of the David to fool Soderini. Vasari (1511–1574) was himself a painter, but he is really remembered for these biographies which begin with Cimabue and Giotto in the late 13th century and trace the developments in Italian art down to the golden epoch of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Titian. Included are Vasari's reflections on the state of contemporary Florentine art--its philosophy and its aims--which lend considerable historical and critical value to a work which has been tremendously popular since its first edition in 1550. Synopsis: Vasari (1511-1574) was himself a painter, but he is really remembered for these biographies which begin with Cimabue and Giotto in the late 13th century and trace the developments in Italian art down to the golden epoch of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Titian. This book also conveys much about the author himself and his abilities as a critic inspired by his passion for art. Included are Vasari's reflections on the state of contemporary Florentine art, its philosophy and its aims. About the Author: Vasari 1511-74 Customer Reviews
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 Rating: - Extremely DetailedThis is a long, long book with a great deal of information. Clocking in at over five hundred pages and covering about thirty artists of the Italian Renaissance, it is fairly comprehensive and detailed. Some of Vasari's 'facts' have been discredited over the years and so the reader should not take everything here as gospel and indeed should be using this as a supplementary text with other material to get the best use out of it. Nevertheless it remains an important contemporary text and one of the first books on 'art history' ever produced. I have to admit that I found it extremely hard going. There are great long lists of works and their subjects and the patrons of artists which it is easy to get bored or confused by ... Read More: Rating:  - The One-Eyed King May 19, 2003'In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.' This is badly-written, badly-structured, gossipy, confused, misleading, and in too many places downright dishonest. Nevertheless it remians our main source of biographical information on the great artists of the Renaissance and Mannerist periods. Most of these geniuses were considered so unimportant in their own lifetimes that the details of their lives weren't thought worthy to be recorded. It is telling therefore that it was Vasari, himself a rather vainglorious and self-important artist, who first conceived the notion of setting down the minutae of his own class. Unfortunately he was more a man of the brush than the pen and used his biographical duties to settle a few ... Read More: Rating:  - For A level and later on an invaluable bookThis book will appeal to either the history of art student or someone interested in Renaissance writings. A very useful book in that it offers a chance to see what a Mannerist artist thought about his contemporaries. It provides information on the fashions of the time and even insights into the very character of the artist, including some highly amusing stories and occasionally very biased points of view! If you can put a quote in an essay or exam then you will definately stand out as a good candidate. |
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