Giorgio Vasari: Father of Art History

 Who's The Daddy? 

So, today, 30th July, is the birth-date of Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), known as the 'Father of Art History'! I love his belief that 'As long as Art lives never can I accept that men are really dead'; doing all he could to make Artists of his time come alive, producing: 'The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors & Architects', 1st published in 1550, with several editions. Considered the foundation of art history, it includes anecdotes, biographies, and techniques used by artists such as: Leonardo da Vinci; Raphael; Titian; Botticelli, and Michelangelo, who befriended him. I had to get to grips with the language used to describe art movements of that time: Mannerism; (Late/High) Late Renaissance - stylized work.

It made me think again about Art History, how it needs to be refined, or redefined, in how it's taught in schools and university, rather than being phased out. There's so much I realize I don't know, in spite of loving lessons at school so much the content lingered long after. It's not even just about the style of any given Movement, there's a need for a broader overview, I think, beyond the focus on Europe, and more on how to 'read' a painting. Art was considered the 'soft' option at school - mad! Forget the official labels, I loved that we were taught 'Art Appreciation' even with much teenage resistance & scorn, it got through, eventually. It would be a great loss to the curriculum; a kind of leprosy, if an important part of our body of learning dropped off - almost unnoticed.

The work is a little strange, but powerful too. I love the flat, impossibly squished together 'frieze' of 6 Tuscan Poets in deep conversation: (seated): Dante Aligheri (1265-1321) 'Divine Comedy' & Guido Cavalcanti (1255-1300) love sonnets; (standing, in clerical garb): Humanist & Classical Scholar, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-75) & Francesco Petrarch (1304-74) 'Decameron'; far left: Humanist/Man of Letters, Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) & Platonic philosopher, Cristofaro Landino (1424-15040) Their laurel leaves symbolize Literary Achievement.

Great to see the sketch that preceded the finished painting of the Nativity. Vasari was fortunate in being employed by various members of the Medici family; which is the other thing - how do artists survive? Financially. Spiritually. Pleased to have 'found' him and his work - still very much alive to this day.                                                                                                                     The Medici's: Lorenzo the Magnificent (1533/4) & Alessandro, Resting 1537 (R)

A very clean and tidy style. The Garden of Gethsemane (1570) betrays none of the horror of sweating blood through extreme anguish, focusing on the glory. Other themes covered address the gruesome nature of some Biblical stories: the beheaded giant, Goliath; Judith about to behead her target; the stoning of St. Stephen, but all 'tastefully' rendered. Entombment, 1532,

Here's an opportunity to view more of his work - a fantastic range, in just a couple of minutes: