Giorgio Vasari- Lives of the Renaissance Artists

 While I've yet to delve into the larger expanded work, Vasari's lengthy description of the painters, sculptures and architects of the Renaissance, it was generous of someone out there to do a "highlight reel" of the major superstars in a condensed version for those of us art history nerds. 

    Consider this a "best of" compilation of Renaissance thinkers, or a "greatest hits" album. Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael are all given excerpts in this book, (which is not terribly long, about 160
pages,) that give glowing reviews of their work by Vasari himself. It was very inspiring to be reminded of the impact that one individual can have on the flow of history, and  how there are enough people in that contemporary society that understand the impact that some individuals will have on future generations and therefore deserve to be written down. Vasari is a total badass for being that guy who gave us the term "Renaissance." 

      He saw a bunch of talented artists that totally opened up the box creatively and thought: "We NEED to write this down, people. This is what's going on right here. Get me a pen and paper."

    The reproductions are clean and high quality, with Vasari's descriptions of the work being very thorough as well. It definitely gave me a motivational boost. 


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