Giorgio VasariSelections fromThe Lives of the Great Artists ‘Comes the hour, comes the man’, the saying goes, and in nocase is it more apt than that of Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574). His emergence atthe height of the Renaissance was a remarkable and fortunate stroke of luck forthe history of art. The seismic explosion of artistic creativity that wastaking place in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries cried out for achronicler – and who better to undertake the task than someone who was not justa historian, but an artist among other artists, situated in the eye of thestorm, someone whose own gifts and training gave him the ability to recognizegenius when he found it, and to distinguish the greater talents from thelesser. Vasari, a considerable artist in his own right, earnedsufficient respect and renown during his lifetime to be offered commissions todecorate and design some of Italy’s most important churches, palaces and statebuildings. He was ideally placed to know the great patrons as well as hisfellow artists. He was able to assess the quality of the work of his colleaguesand competitors, to analyze their technical proficiency and to appreciate theirimaginative invention and spiritual depth. He could recognize innovativepractices when he came across them and appreciate their contribution to theprogress of art. In many instances, he was personally acquainted with thepeople about whom he was writing, either as friends, teachers, colleagues orpupils. When Vasari wrote about an artist who had died before he started TheLives, he was often able to speak to those who had known him, and note downreminiscences, apocryphal stories or just plain gossip. But none of this would have fitted him for his task had helacked the personal qualities necessary to carry it out. Here again he was theright man for the job. Vasari was ambitious, determined, dogged, methodical,diplomatic and, though not a natural writer, able to produce a clear narrativein a direct and personal style. What is more, by the time he was persuaded towrite The Lives of the Great Artists, he had already been collectinginformation about artists and their work for some time. It would seem that hewas doing so without any particular purpose in mind. Perhaps he saw it as aresource to help him further his career, whether by keeping tabs on what otherartists were doing, knowing what commissions were completed and whatopportunities might present themselves in the future, or as a means ofmeasuring himself against the opposition. He describes how the plan to write a comprehensive treatiseon artists’ lives came about as the result of a conversation over dinner at thetable of Cardinal Farnese. Vasari’s friend Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, ascholar and man of letters, made the suggestion to Farnese, who in turn askedVasari whether he thought it a good idea. Vasari replied in the affirmative,but being aware that despite his learning Giovio had confused various artists,he added that he thought it would be wise for him to have someone from theprofession to help him. The assembled company all urged Vasari to take on thejob of assistant, and he agreed. But when, later on, he came to provide Gioviowith notes, Giovio declared that Vasari was far more suited to the task thanhe, and persuaded him to take it on himself. There is some doubt about the exact date of this famousdinner party, but scholars think it must have been around 1543. If this is so,it is an extraordinary feat for Vasari to have completed the work by itspublication date of 1550, a period of only seven years. In fact, he must haveconsidered it finished even sooner, because it is recorded that he gave hismanuscript to have a fair copy made as early as 1547, only four years after heagreed to undertake the work. What is absolutely astonishing is the number ofpainting commissions on which he managed to work at the same time, a tribute tohis remarkable energy and devotion to the task. Although Vasari personally knew some of the artists aboutwhom he writes, and it is frequently his personal contact which lends hisreports their immediacy and authenticity, it would have been impossible for himto have known all. The Lives includes some 265 artists, beginning with Cimabuewho died in 1302, over 200 years before Vasari was born. But he certainly knewmany of the artists of his time – Titian, Signorelli, del Sarto, Salviati, andGiulio Romano to mention but a few – and he corresponded with many others. But the friendship of which he was most proud – and whoshall blame him? – was that of Michelangelo. We are privileged to be able tohear from someone who was sufficiently close to the great man to havecorresponded with him and to have had private conversations. Vasari quotes fromtheir letters to each other and recounts his experience of seeing the SistineChapel’s Last Judgement soon after it was unveiled. It is the immediacy of suchaccounts, which gives The Lives its unique authenticity. In addition to collating and recording the mountains ofinformation which make up the accounts of hundreds of artists’ lives, and aswell as keeping a model work book and detailed business records, Vasari was aprolific correspondent, and there are more than 1,000 survivingletters. His correspondents include six popes, 36 cardinals and anassortment of dukes, princes, high-ranking clerics, literary celebrities,artists, merchants, bankers, and other people of note. As a corollary to TheLives, these documents add greatly to our knowledge and understanding of lifein 16th century Italy.He also collected the drawings of artists he admired in hisfamous Libro dei Disegni, a remarkable series of volumes containing works bysuchluminaries as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, as well asthose of lesser lights, set in elaborately decorated surrounds drawn by Vasarihimself. This became an invaluable source of reference for him when it came towriting The Lives. This unique document was sent to France after his death, andunfortunately split up and dispersed. But who was Giorgio Vasari? He was born in Arezzo, a town 40miles from Florence, and baptized on July 30, 1511. Named after hisgrandfather, he came from a long line of craftsmen potters skilled inreproducing the black and red Attic vases for which the area was famous. Thisis reflected in the family’s surname, a variant of the word vasaio, or vase.Giorgio’s great-grandfather was a little-known painter by the name of LazzaroVasari, whom he included proudly in The Lives. The painter Luca Signorelli was also a relative, and it washe who first encouraged Giorgio’s father to have his son trained as an artist.Another family member, Cardinal Silvio Passerini, was responsible for takinghim to Florence to further his studies in 1525. Vasari says he was apprenticedat first to Michelangelo, but as he was called away to Rome, was sent to studyunder Andrea del Sarto. He became a servant of the Medici, and this was thebeginning of a lifelong association with the family who were to become hisgreatest patrons. In 1527 the Medici were expelled from Florence, and Vasariwas forced to return home to Arezzo. His father had died of the plague in themeantime, and he now found himself head of the family, and obliged to shouldernew responsibilities. He spent this period struggling to provide for his motherand his brothers and sisters by decorating and restoring paintings in churchesin the vicinity. In 1529 he returned to Florence, but when the city came undersiege, Vasari made his escape back to Arezzo. In 1531, after the restoration of the Medici, CardinalIppolito de Medici, who was traveling through Arezzo, discovered Vasari thereand took him to Rome. Vasari set himself to study the work of Raphael,Michelangelo and da Vinci until illness forced him to return to Florence. Hecontinued to serve the Medici family until the death of Ippolito, which wasrumored to have been caused by poison administered on the orders of Alessandrode Medici, who now became Vasari’s protector until he, in turn, wasassassinated by his cousin Lorenzino. From this moment Vasari understandablydecided to give up court life, and live independent of princely patronage. Hereturned to his home in Arezzo where he lived quietly, undertaking commissionsfrom the Camaldoline monks. After a time he returned to Florence, and from there, toRome. For Vasari, Rome was ‘the true school of the noble arts’. He believedthat without being exposed to the highest expressions of the human spirit, eventhe most gifted artist would never achieve true greatness. As his reputationincreased, he traveled widely to undertake various commissions in Venice,Naples, Bologna and elsewhere in Italy. In 1550, the year the first edition of The Lives waspublished, Vasari took a momentous decision; he decided to get married. He didso on the advice of Cardinal Gianmaria del Monte and reports that he mightnever have done so but for the encouragement of the Cardinal. It would seemthat Vasari was reluctant to involve himself in any activity that mightdistract him from his work.He chose for a wife a young woman called Cosina, thedaughter of a well-to-do Aretine apothecary. Although the match appears to havebeen an unromantic one, made for reasons of practicality rather than passion,it seems to have been an affectionate union, with Cosina looking after hishousehold and, later, caring for him in his old age. The fact that they had nochildren was an enduring source of sadness. In 1554 Cosimo de Medici, having finally managed to vanquishthe rebel forces ranged against him, offered Vasari a place in the ducal court.He had traveled extensively over the past years, and as he did not wish ‘to endmy days as a gypsy’, he was grateful for the opportunity of settling down inFlorence with his wife and aging mother. In 1560 he was given what was to be his most famousarchitectural commission. Cosimo charged him with the construction of abuilding between the Palazzo Vecchio and the River Arno to house the civilmagistrates. This is the magnificent building we know today as the UffiziGallery. Like his idol Michelangelo and other artists of his time, Vasari wasexpected to be able to turn his hand to the design of buildings as well as topainting and sculpture, today’s strict boundary between art and architecturebeing unknown at that time. Having carried out this task with triumphantsuccess he then embarked on the rebuilding and refurbishing of the PalazzoVecchio in order to transform it into suitable living quarters for the Medicifamily. Vasari was influential in the foundation of the Academy ofDesign in Florence in 1563. As he remarks in The Lives, the existence of the recently-formedAcademy was a great boon the following year when, on the death of Michelangelo,its members combined to produce funeral obsequies of extraordinary creativityand magnificence to honor the great man.In addition to his heavy workload as a painter andarchitect, Vasari found time to amend, rewrite and add to The Lives with a viewto producing a new edition, despite having to interrupt its preparation forperiods of other work sometimes lasting several months. The revised editionappeared in 1568, and was nearly three times as large as the previous one. Itincluded a separate new volume dedicated to artists working between thepublication of the first and second editions. Relations between the Medici family and Rome were becomingnormalized once more, and in 1570 Vasari was given three chapels to decorate inthe Vatican by Pope Pius V, and a series of frescoes in the Sala Regia. At thesame time he was working on his designs for the cupola of the cathedral inFlorence, which he had started to paint. By 1574 his health was failing and hewas no longer able to climb the scaffolding to reach the interior of the dome,and had to be pulled up in a basket. In April that year his old patron Cosimode Medici died, and on June 27 Vasari followed him. If Vasari’s painting lacks the spontaneity and magicaltranscendence of true genius, it cannot be said to fall short due to lack ofeffort. As Malvolio says, ‘Some are born great, and some achieve greatness…’Vasari used what gifts he had to the full, and achieved as much as it ispossible to achieve through natural skill, hard work and application. Hispassionate interest in his subject, and his ability to learn from the bestexamples, allowed him to triumph over others more talented but lacked histenacity and dedication. The same might be said of his literary achievement. He wasnot a natural writer, but he leaves behind him a record, which is wonderfullyentertaining, due to his enthusiasm and his appetite for knowledge. Howeverconventional his viewpoint or his manner of expressing it, and despite hisoccasional pomposity or partiality, the essential decency of his personalityshines through. Although he reports the intrigues and envious behavior of otherartists – sometimes with a gossip’s relish – there is little or no malice to befound in his own attitude. Vasari’s achievement is the result of the power of hisambition. Ambition for him was not something of which to be ashamed, but aquality to be celebrated and admired – an honorable spur to the highestattainment. As an artist, his efforts brought him honor, respect andprosperity; as an historian and critic, his work has earned him eternal fame. Vasari’s The Lives of the Great Artists is unique in itsscope and achievement. Its only classical predecessor and model is Pliny’sNatural History, but there was no previous model for artistic biography on sucha scale. Modern scholars with access to documents that were unavailable toVasari have discovered many inaccuracies in facts and dates, but what isextraordinary, given the circumstances in which he lived and the exigencies ofhis working life, is not how much he got wrong, but how much he got right. The Lives remains the greatest source of knowledge andunderstanding of the artistic life of the Renaissance available to us and togenerations yet to come. Perhaps the finest tribute to Vasari is the followingsonnet, written in appreciation of The Lives by the artist he admired above allothers, Michelangelo: With pencil and with palette hithertoYou made your high art Nature’s paragon;Nay more, from Nature her own prize you won,Making what she made fair more fair to view.Now that your learned hand with labour newOf pen and ink a worthier work hath done,What erst you lacked, what still remained her own,The power of giving life, is gained for you.If men in any age with Nature viedIn beauteous workmanship, they had to yieldWhen to the fated end years brought their name.You, re-illuminating memories that diedIn spite of Time and Nature have revealedFor them and for yourself eternal fame. Notes by Neville Jason The Naxos AudioBooks abridged selection is drawn fromVasari’s Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects translated by A.B.Hinds, published by J.M. Dent, 1900; The translation of Michelangelo’s sonnetis by J.A. Symonds, The Sonnets of Michelangelo, Buonarotti, London 1878. The Reader Neville Jason trained at RADA where he was awarded theDiction Prize by Sir John Gielgud. He has worked with the English Stage Co.,the Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as in films,television and musicals. Jason has appeared in popular television serials suchas Maigret, Emergency Ward 10 and Dr. Who, as well as playing classical rolessuch as Orestes and Horatio. Formally a member of the BBC Radio Drama Co., hecan frequently be heard on radio.