stellamcvey's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Only 2 more volumes of Vasari lying for fun
aoifeh_doheny's review against another edition
3.0
review coming soon
REVIEW HERE!
"Provided they are honest and innocent of lies, books travel freely and are trusted wherever they go."--Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, page 209.
Some quick thoughts:
1. It only focuses on Italian artists, at least in my shortened version. I couldn't find my edition here but of the twenty artists discussed, thirteen were from Florence and the rest from like two or three other Italian cities.
2. The only women mentioned are either unnamed wives, unnamed mistresses or saints. This may not be a big deal for some people, or it may be the kind of thing they pick up immediately.
3. The main theme of the paintings was Roman Catholicism. And then a bit more Roman Catholicism. And then some Greco-Roman myth. And then--you guessed it--Roman Catholicism.
4. The ultimate goal and the ultimate beauty of a painting lay in how near it was to Nature and real life.
5. I grew to like Vasari's voice. Some of the dryer highlights include:
"What a deplorable contrast is presented by our modern artists who are not content with injuring one another, but who viciously and enviously rend others as well."--page 139
"And if I have failed to mention any other foreigners and Florentines who have gone there to study, let me just say that where great artists flock, so do the lesser."--page 131
"[T]his comes at no surprise, since everyone in Florence has pretensions to understanding art as much as the experience master."--page 146
Also da Vinci's entire chapter was a rollercoaster that I won't describe for spoiler-y reasons, but that I highly recommened.
REVIEW HERE!
"Provided they are honest and innocent of lies, books travel freely and are trusted wherever they go."--Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, page 209.
Some quick thoughts:
1. It only focuses on Italian artists, at least in my shortened version. I couldn't find my edition here but of the twenty artists discussed, thirteen were from Florence and the rest from like two or three other Italian cities.
2. The only women mentioned are either unnamed wives, unnamed mistresses or saints. This may not be a big deal for some people, or it may be the kind of thing they pick up immediately.
3. The main theme of the paintings was Roman Catholicism. And then a bit more Roman Catholicism. And then some Greco-Roman myth. And then--you guessed it--Roman Catholicism.
4. The ultimate goal and the ultimate beauty of a painting lay in how near it was to Nature and real life.
5. I grew to like Vasari's voice. Some of the dryer highlights include:
"What a deplorable contrast is presented by our modern artists who are not content with injuring one another, but who viciously and enviously rend others as well."--page 139
"And if I have failed to mention any other foreigners and Florentines who have gone there to study, let me just say that where great artists flock, so do the lesser."--page 131
"[T]his comes at no surprise, since everyone in Florence has pretensions to understanding art as much as the experience master."--page 146
Also da Vinci's entire chapter was a rollercoaster that I won't describe for spoiler-y reasons, but that I highly recommened.
More...