Vasari's Lives of the Artists: Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian
256
Vasari's Lives of the Artists: Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian
256eBook
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Overview
The Lives' colorful and detailed portraits of the most representative figures of Italian painting and sculpture trace the flowering of the Renaissance across three centuries. This single-volume edition of selections from Vasari's immense work features eight of the book's most noteworthy artists: Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian. It also includes an introduction, notes, and glossary; as well as woodcut portraits of each artist by Vasari himself. Students, teachers, and art enthusiasts will find this convenient edition an indispensable resource.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780486142005 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dover Publications |
| Publication date: | 02/09/2012 |
| Series: | Dover Fine Art, History of Art |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 256 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
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Vasari's Lives of the Artists
Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian
By Giorgio Vasari, Jonathan Foster, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin
Dover Publications, Inc.
Copyright © 2005 Dover Publications, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-14200-5
CHAPTER 1
GIOTTO
Painter, Sculptor, and Architect, of Florence
[1266/76–1337]
THE gratitude which the masters in painting owe to nature—who is ever the truest model of him who, possessing the power to select the brightest parts from her best and loveliest features, employs himself un-weariedly in the reproduction of these beauties—this gratitude, I say, is due, in my judgment, to the Florentine painter, Giotto, seeing that he alone—although born amidst incapable artists, and at a time when all good methods in art had long been entombed beneath the ruins of war—yet, by the favor of Heaven, he, I say, alone succeeded in resuscitating art, and restoring her to a path that may be called the true one. And it was in truth a great marvel that, from so rude and inapt an age, Giotto should have had strength to elicit so much that the art of design, of which the men of those days had little, if any, knowledge, was by his means effectually recalled into life.
The birth of this great man took place in the hamlet of Vespignano, fourteen miles from the city of Florence, in the year 1276. His father's name was Bondone, a simple husbandman, who reared the child, to whom he had given the name of Giotto, with such decency as his condition permitted. The boy was early remarked for extreme vivacity in all his childish proceedings, and for extraordinary promptitude of intelligence; so that he became endeared, not only to his father, but to all who knew him in the village and around it. When he was about ten years old, Bondone gave him a few sheep to watch, and with these he wandered about the vicinity—now here and now there. But induced by nature herself to the arts of design, he was perpetually drawing on the stones, the earth, or the sand some natural object that came before him or some fantasy that presented itself to his thoughts.
It chanced one day that the affairs of Cimabue took him from Florence to Vespignano, when he perceived the young Giotto, who, while his sheep fed around him, was occupied in drawing one of them from the life, with a stone slightly pointed, upon a smooth clean piece of rock—and that without any teaching whatever, but such as nature herself had imparted. Halting in astonishment, Cimabue inquired of the boy if he would accompany him to his home, and the child replied he would go willingly if his father were content to permit it. Cimabue therefore requesting the consent of Bondone, the latter granted it readily, and suffered the artist to conduct his son to Florence, where, in a short time, instructed by Cimabue and aided by nature, the boy not only equalled his master in his own manner, but became so good an imitator of nature that he totally banished the rude Greek manner—restoring art to the better path adhered to in modern times, and introducing the custom of accurately drawing living persons from nature, which had not been used for more than two hundred years. Or if some had attempted it, as said above, it was not by any means with the success of Giotto.
Among the portraits by this artist, and which still remain, is one of his contemporary and intimate friend, Dante Alighieri, who was no less famous as a poet than Giotto as a painter, and whom Messer Giovanni Boccaccio has lauded so highly in the introduction to his story of Messer Forese da Rabatta, and of Giotto the painter himself. This portrait is in the chapel of the palace of the Podestà in Florence; and in the same chapel are the portraits of Ser Brunetto Latini, master of Dante, and of Messer Corso Donati, an illustrious citizen of that day.
The first pictures of Giotto were painted for the chapel of the high altar, in the Abbey of Florence, where he executed many works considered extremely fine. Among these, an Annunciation is particularly admired; the expression of fear and astonishment in the countenance of the Virgin, when receiving the salutation of Gabriel, is vividly depicted; she appears to suffer the extremity of terror, and seems almost ready to take flight. The altar-piece of that chapel is also by Giotto; but this has been, and continues to be, preserved, rather from the respect felt for the work of so distinguished a man than from any other motive.
There are four chapels in Santa Croce also painted by Giotto: three between the sacristy and the principal chapel, and one on the opposite side of the church. In the first of the three, which belongs to Messer Ridolfi de' Bardi, and wherein are the bell-ropes, is the life of St. Francis. In this picture are several figures of monks lamenting the death of the saint: the expression of weeping is very natural. In the second chapel, which belongs to the family of Peruzzi, are two passages from the life of St. John the Baptist, to whom the chapel is dedicated, wherein the dancing of Salome, and the promptitude with which certain servants are performing the service of the table, are depicted with extreme vivacity. Two other paintings in the same chapel, also exceedingly fine, are events from the life of St. John the Evangelist—that wherein he restores Drusiana to life, and his own ascension into heaven. The third chapel belongs to the Giugni family: it is dedicated to the Apostles; and Giotto has painted in it various scenes from the martyrdom of many of them.
In the fourth chapel, which is on the other side of the church to the north, belonging to the families of Tosinghi and Spinelli, and dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady, he has depicted the following passages from the life of the Virgin: her birth, her marriage, her annunciation, the adoration of the Magi, and the presentation of Christ in the Temple. This last is a most beautiful thing; for not only is the warmest expression of love to the child to be perceived on the face of the old man Simeon, but the act of the infant, who, being afraid of him, stretches its arms timidly and turns towards its mother, is depicted in a manner inexpressibly touching and exquisite. The Apostles and Angels, with torches in their hands, who surround the death-bed of the Virgin, in a succeeding picture, are also admirably well done. In the same church, and in the chapel of the Baroncelli family, is a picture in distemper, by the hand of Giotto: it represents the coronation of the Virgin, with a great number of small figures, and a choir of saints and angels, very carefully finished. On this work, the name of the master and the date are written in letters of gold.
Artists who reflect on the period at which Giotto, without any light to guide him towards better methods, could make so happy a commencement, whether as respects design or coloring, will be compelled to regard him with great respect and admiration. There are, moreover, in the same church of Santa Croce, and above the marble tomb of Carlo Marsuppini of Arezzo, a Crucifix, a figure of the Virgin, a St. John and the Magdalen at the foot of the Cross, all by the hand of Giotto; and on the other side of the church, exactly opposite to the latter, and above the burial-place of Leonardo Aretino, is an Annunciation, near the high altar, which has been restored with very little judgment by the hand of some modern painter: a great discredit to those who had the custody of these works. In the refectory is a Tree of the Cross, with scenes from the life of St. Louis, and a Last Supper, by the same master. On the presses or wardrobes of the sacristy, also, are passages from the life of Christ and that of St. Francis. Giotto likewise painted in the church of the Carmine, depicting the life of St. John the Baptist, for the chapel of that saint, in a series of pictures; and in the Guelphic Palace of Florence there is a painting of the Christian Faith, admirably executed in fresco, wherein he has placed the portrait of Clement IV, who founded the society, conferring on it his own arms, which it has borne ever since.
After these works were finished, Giotto departed from Florence, and went to Assisi, to complete the paintings commenced by Cimabue. Passing through Arezzo, he painted one of the chapels of the capitular church, that of St. Francis, which is above the baptistery; and on a round column, which stands beside a very beautiful antique Corinthian capital, are portraits of St. Francis and St. Dominic, by his hand, both taken from nature. In the cathedral without Arezzo, he further executed the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, in one of the larger chapels; of which the composition is fine. Having finished these things, he proceeded to Assisi, a city of Umbria, being invited thither by Fra Giovanni of Muro in the Marches, who was then general of the fraternity of St. Francis. Here, in the upper church, and under the corridor which traverses the windows, he painted a series of thirty-two frescoes, representing passages from the life and acts of the saint; namely, sixteen on each side; a work which he executed so perfectly as to acquire great fame from it. And, of a truth, there is singular variety in these frescoes; not only in the gestures and attitudes of each figure, but also in the composition of all the stories: the different costumes of those times are also represented; and, in all the accessories, nature is most faithfully adhered to. Among other figures, that of a thirsty man stooping to drink from a fountain is worthy of perpetual praise: the eager desire with which he bends towards the water is portrayed with such marvelous effect that one could almost believe him to be a living man actually drinking.
There are many other parts of this work that well merit remark, but I refrain from alluding to them, lest I become too discursive. Let it suffice to say that it added greatly to the fame of Giotto, for the beauty of the figures, the good order, just proportion, and life of the whole, while the facility of execution, which he had received from nature and afterwards perfected by study, was made manifest in every part of the work. Giotto has indeed well merited to be called the disciple of nature rather than of other masters, having not only studiously cultivated his natural faculties, but being perpetually occupied in drawing fresh stores from nature, which was to him the never-failing source of inspiration.
When the stories above described were finished, Giotto continued to labor in the same place, but in the lower church, where he painted the upper part of the walls beside the high altar, together with the four angles of the vault, beneath which the remains of St. Francis repose. All of these display rich and original invention. In the first angle is St. Francis glorified in heaven, and surrounded by those virtues which are essential to him who desires fully to partake of the grace of God. On one side is Obedience, placing a yoke on the neck of a friar who kneels before her, the bands of the yoke being drawn towards heaven by hands above. The finger on the lip of Obedience imposes silence, while her eyes are fixed on Jesus, from whose side the blood is flowing: beside this Virtue stand Prudence and Humility to show that where there is true obedience there are also humility and prudence directing every action towards the right and good. In the second angle is Chastity, who, firm on a well-defended fortress, refuses to yield to any of the kingdoms, crowns, and glories that are offered her on all sides. At the feet of Chastity is Purity, washing certain naked figures, while Force is conducting others towards her, to be also washed and purified. On one side of Chastity stands Penitence, driving away Love with the cord of discipline, and putting Incontinence to flight.
The third compartment exhibits Poverty walking barefoot amidst thorns: a dog follows her, barking, and a boy throws stones at her, while a second gathers the thorns about her, and presses them into her legs with a stick. This Poverty is here seen to be espoused by St. Francis, while Christ himself is holding her hand; and Hope, not without significance, is present, together with Charity. In the fourth and last of these angles is a St. Francis, also glorified, as in the first compartment. He is dressed in the white tunic of the deacon, and is triumphant in heaven, attended by a multitude of angels, who form a choir around him; they hold a standard, on which is a cross with seven stars; and over all is the Holy Spirit. In each of these angles are certain Latin words, explanatory of the events depicted.
Besides the paintings in these four compartments, those on the walls are extremely fine, and well deserve our admiration, not only for their beauty, but also for the care with which they were executed, which was such that they have retained their freshness even to this day. The portrait of Giotto himself, very well done, may be seen in one of these pictures; and over the door of the sacristy is a fresco, also by him, representing St. Francis at the moment when he receives the Stigmata; the expression of the saint being so full of love and devotion, that to me this seems to be the best picture that Giotto has produced in this work, which is nevertheless all truly beautiful and admirable.
When Giotto had at length completed this St. Francis, he returned to Florence, where, immediately after his arrival, he painted a picture to be sent to Pisa. This is also a St. Francis, standing on the frightful rocks of La Verna, and is finished with extraordinary care: it exhibits a landscape with many trees and precipices, which was a new thing in those times. In the attitude and expression of St. Francis, who is on his knees receiving the Stigmata, the most eager desire to obtain them is clearly manifest, as well as infinite love towards Jesus Christ, who from heaven above, where he is seen surrounded by the seraphim, grants these Stigmata to his servant with looks of such lively affection that it is not possible to conceive any thing more perfect. Beneath this picture are three others, also from the life of St. Francis, and very beautiful. The picture of the Stigmata, just described, is still in the church of San Francesco in Pisa, close beside the high altar. It is held in great veneration for the sake of the master; and caused the Pisans to entrust him with the decoration of their Campo Santo. The edifice was scarcely completed, from the design of Giovanni Pisano, when Giotto was invited to paint a portion of the internal walls.
This magnificent fabric, being encrusted externally with rich marbles and sculptures, executed at immense cost, the roof covered with lead, and the interior filled with antique monuments and sepulchral urns of pagan times brought to Pisa from all parts of the world, it was determined that the inner walls should be adorned with the noblest paintings. To that end Giotto repaired to Pisa, and on one of the walls of the Campo Santo he painted the history of Job, in six large frescoes; but, as he judiciously reflected, the marble of that part of the building where he went to work, being turned towards the sea and exposed to the southeast winds, was always humid and gave out a certain saline moisture, as do nearly all the bricks of Pisa, which fades and corrodes the colors and pictures; so he caused a coating or intonaco to be made for every part whereon he proposed to paint in fresco, that his work might be preserved as long as possible. This intonaco was composed of lime, chalk, and powdered bricks, all so well mingled together, that the paintings which he afterwards executed on the surface thus prepared remain in tolerable preservation to this day. Nay, they might have been in much better condition if the neglect of those who ought to have taken care of them had not suffered them to sustain injury from the damp: but this not having been guarded against, as it might easily have been, has caused some of the paintings to be spoiled in certain places, the flesh tints having become blackened and the plaster fallen off. It is, besides, the nature of chalk when mingled with lime to become corroded and peel off with time, when it inevitably ruins the colors; although at first it seems to bind and secure them.
In these stories, beside the portrait of Messer Farinata degli Uberti, there are many admirable figures, more particularly those of certain villagers, who bring the grievous news of his losses to Job: no faces could be more eloquently demonstrative of the grief they feel for the lost cattle and other calamities than are these. There is likewise extraordinary grace in the figure of a servant, who, with a fan of branches in his hand, stands near the suffering Job, now abandoned by all else. Every part of his figure is beautiful; but most of all to be admired is his attitude—as, driving the flies from his leprous and ill-odored master with one hand, he guards himself from the pungent scents, from which he obviously shrinks, with the other. The remaining figures of these paintings, and the heads, those of the men as well as the women, are exceedingly beautiful; the draperies also are painted with infinite grace; nor is it at all surprising that this work acquired so much fame for its author as to induce Pope Benedict IX to send one of his courtiers from Treviso to Tuscany for the purpose of ascertaining what kind of man Giotto might be, and what were his works, that Pontiff then proposing to have certain paintings executed in the church of St. Peter.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Vasari's Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari, Jonathan Foster, Marilyn Aronberg Lavin. Copyright © 2005 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
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Table of Contents
GiottoMasaccio
Fra Filippo Lippi
Botticelli
Leonardo
Raphael
Michelangelo
Titian
![Hole In None [Illustrated]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/2940014356589_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Hole In None [Illustrated]")
