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Summary: The aetiology of art
Review: Vasari interprets the plastic and architectonic arts (painting, sculpture and architecture) as means for promoting the glory of God, as the artist, in his creative act, emulates the supreme creative act of the deity and is thus brought closer to him. His history of Renaissance, or, in Vasari's terms "modern", art spans from the early medieval masters, such as Cimabue and Giotto, up to the great trimuvirate of the high Renaissance, Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo, whom Vasari regards with immense reverence as the greatest artist of all time, a genius who even surpassed the perfection of the ancients, and even nature itself. The history describes the gradual advances inaugurated by Giotto and Cimabue, freeing art from the grip of the artificial and iconographic Gothic style, and the progressive development of mathematical perspective by the likes of Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Piero della Franchesca, up to Michelangelo, the genius characterised by "terribilata" and absolute mastery of the arts. A section is also devoted to the Venetian masters Titian, Giorgione and Bellini, though they receive short shrift as Vasari, being a Florentine, does not attempt to conceal his bias towards Florentine art and hostility towards the Venetians. The account is written in highly engaging and vivacious prose, with an occasionally gossipy flavour, as Vasari relates, in charming anecdotes, some of the personal events that transpired in the lives of the artists. Altogether, this is a landmark of art-historical research, compiled at a time when research techniques were extremely unreliable, and when interlibrary loans were unheard-of.
Rating:
Summary: A great classic
Review: Vasari is a pleasure to read. His love of his subject his understanding of art his appreciation of those greater than him all make the work inspiring. He writes the lives of the artists, and in the course of this tells the story of Renaissance Art. He begins with Cimabue and in this work finishes with Titian. His climax is in his chapter on his friend, teacher, and model for all that is great as painter, sculptor, architect Michelangelo. Vasari has a technical understanding of painting and so this work is rich in its description not only of the artists' but of their greatest works. It also has anecdotal richness, gossip and as I understand quite a bit of apocryphal material which later art historians will dispute. Nonetheless it is a prime source document containing information about the lives of artists who otherwise would be largely forgotten. But above all I think the work is a tribute to the creative spirit of the artist in service of the Divine .
The Penguin edition as I understand it contains only a small proportion( though the most important)of the lives. It is nonetheless highly recommended not only for those who will study this artist or visit the sites at which it is located but for all who are interested in the human spirit in creative struggle and triumph.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely readable, contemporary account of his peers
Review: Vasari was a life-long correspondent of Michaelangelo, a contemporary of Leonardo, etc., so the accounts are written about his friends and comnpetitors, not 100+ years later, thru the prism of time. Yet this translation is in readable, 20th Century English.The chapters on Brunelleschi, Donato, etc. are lively, entertaining as well as instructive. MUST reading for anyone going to Italy, or to see works of the Florentine artists. (N.B. I am an engineer who never had a fine arts class, ever!)
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Summary: Magnanimous Homage to Giants of Italian Art!
Review: Vasari's LIVES has lived for over 450 years, and it's easy to see why! From Cimabue to Titian, he covers (in this edition)over 40 artists during about a 250 year period! A great artist himself, Vasari spares no superlatives in describing the work and lives of these individuals.They are just about all "most excellent", and produced titanic painting, sculpture, and architecture. He claims (erroneouly, according to the editors) that one murdered his rival, and definitely was not a nice guy. But the rest are generally given the royal treatment. Oddly,Botticelli seems a tad slighted. The Big Three, Leonardo,Raphael, and Michaelangelo are practically bathed in the light of the devine!.Many anecdotes are mentioned, which give real life and sometimes fun to these Olympians. Plus, discussions of the progress and styles/ techniques which come full flower with these Big Three.
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Summary: Best translation available
Review: Vasari's Lives of the Artist deserves to be published as one of the world's classics. Unfortunately, the Bondanellas did not translate all of the vite and some of the biographies in this volume are abridged. Still, although it contains a few minor errors, this elegant and lively translation of the Lives is the best available in English.
Rating: 
Summary: Necessary for art historians and college students
Review: Vasari's prose is effusive but easy to follow because it says the same things over and over about each artist. If you have any interest in the Italian artists this book is a crucial and reliable source of information. Artists lives with an emphasis on their contemporaries and their development are lavishly detailed in this book. It's a crucial source for a college-level art history report. Art historians respect Vasari's analyses of the artists' lives. Vasari LOVES the High Renaissance artists, especially Michelangelo and Raphael, so you'll find that those chapters are especially long and informative. At times the praise of these artists, and others of the Renaissance, seems exaggerated and excessive. But you get the general gist of things, and find yourself itching to see the paintings that he tells stories about after you read about each artist.
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