Lives of the Artists, vol.01

In his Lives of the Artists of the Italian Renaissance, Vasari demonstrated a literary talent that outshone even his outstanding abilities as a painter and architect. Through character sketches and anecdotes he depicts Piero di Cosimo shut away in his derelict house, living only to paint; Giulio Romano`s startling painting of Jove striking down the giants; and his friend Francesco Salviati, whose biography also tells us much about Vasari`s own early career. Vasari`s original and soaring vision plus his acute aesthetic judgements have made him one of the most influential art historians of all time.