The Lives of the Artists Volume 1

This is a must read for artist's and students that are interested in art history or the old masters. It is an easy read as each chapter covers a differetn artist, and it is loaded with interesting information that would have been lost without the recordings in this book.

I bought this book primarily to learn about Fra Lippi and was disappointed in the amount of material on this artist. I will continue reading and hope that the other artists have been described more completely

Printed originally in Italian in the mid-sixteenth century, this book is considered not only the first history of art but also the first to put into words the process of growth and rebirth that characterized the Renaissance. Vasari writes about artists who were, for the most part, his contemporaries. He knew of their work and their lives, if not first-hand then by reputation or by association. The little stories he weaves into their lives give insight into each artist's personality. Though Vasari does try to make them all fit the mold of the Renaissance man, he shows us the chinks in the facade.

One of the best books that go into detail about the lives of such artists and sculptors as Michaelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo de Vinci and Filippo Brunelleschi. A must read for any artist and historian.

Looks great

I have several translations of Vasari's Lives and this was the most readable. I recommend the audio version as it really helped brings Vasari's anecdotes about the various artists quirks to life! I loved it!

It's a good read overall. Gave the reader an overview of the atmosphere that artists of the Renaissance worked in. There were some painters from the Renaissance who were not as popular as Michelangelo that were featured, but unless the reader is really into the Renaissance, it gets boring in those areas...

A good introduction to Medieval, Renaissance, and Mannerist artists written by someone who lived around their time and had actual contact with some of the artists, as well as personal painting experience. He is, however, colored by his personal relationships with the artists, hyperbolic, and constrained by the Zeitgeist of the era. In exploring the relationships of artist and patron he is able to shed light on their social situation and the constant struggle of the elevation of the art of painting among the liberal arts. In English, some of the grandeur of his writing is lost, and it lacks the poetic ease of the Italian original. If you want a fuller version, I suggest (especially for bilingual speakers) a translation with the Italian original on the other side of the page.

This remarkable man changed the face of Florence forever with his design to replace the Stocks next to the Palazzo Vecchio with a huge suite of offices - later to become the Uffizi Art Gallery, he also drew up the plans for the private walkway from the Old Medici palace home to their new residence the Pitti Palace - and took it upon himself to negotiate with all the owners of towers, palaces and churches that came in the way of the new passage, he painted the interior of the dome of the Duomo and the ceilings of the main rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio - and yet he still found time to research and write two large volumes of Essays about the most important artists and sculptors of the Renaissance in such a clear and compelling way that they are still in print nearly 500 years later .... think on that all ye who complain that you have no time to read...!

6 CDs with the Lives of the Artists written by Giorgio Vasari. Apparently the book was first published in 1550 but I can not stop feeling that it was written yesterday. I suppose art is timeless. It is a perfect night stories set for somebody who is lying in bed with eyes wide open and also I am learning quite a lot in such an easy and pleasant way. As early Renaissanceis my favourite period of art with frescoes and egg tempera as main media.

A timeless history of art classic. I was forced to read this for Art History A level more than 20 years ago. Now I'm back - older and wiser and it's still the benchmark...

Very good condition

If you’d like to learn about early Italian artists it’s an amazing book