Giorgio Vasari and What he Gave to Me
My parents are Art Historians at Lewis and Clark college, this means that I spend a lot of time on the Lewis and Clark campus. It is a beautiful place, with mandarine gardens, old architecture and a general feeling of peace. My brother and I love to romp through the gardens playing tag amid the poplars and ferns. It also offers an incredible opportunity for my parents to be able to work together at the same place, to be able to work on the same things, to be able to tell each other about what happened at the big meeting. All this I owe to Vasari, he lived in the shadows of bigger and more famous people: Michelangelo, the Medicis and the Pope. Surrounded by all these illustrious people, he did the thing that none of them could do, he recorded their works and documented their success. It was he that ensured that their image would live on. I owe so much to Vasari, as he gave my parents their jobs and me a lasting impression of true greatness.
Giorgio Vasari was born on July 30, 1511, in Arezzo Italy. He received most of his training in the circle of Andrea del Sarto, a highly regarded painter from Florence. Now, while he was a prolific painter, the quality of his painting was not much when compared to the works of artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael. He is more often regarded as an architect; his works include such buildings as the Uffizi in Florence and the Vasari corridor. But the crowning achievement of his career is without question his massive book: Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. This massive book is a look at the history of art from antiquity to the then present day which would be the Renaissance, it looked critically at Western art as well as dividing art into three periods, the Classical Age, the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. It was the first art history book and would lead to generations of scholars who rather than make their own art would look critically into the work of the past to find hidden meaning in humanities' scrawls.
sources: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgio-Vasari http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/del_sarto/
https://dictionaryofarthistorians.org/vasarig.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Giorgio_Vasari.aspx
Giorgio Vasari was born on July 30, 1511, in Arezzo Italy. He received most of his training in the circle of Andrea del Sarto, a highly regarded painter from Florence. Now, while he was a prolific painter, the quality of his painting was not much when compared to the works of artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael. He is more often regarded as an architect; his works include such buildings as the Uffizi in Florence and the Vasari corridor. But the crowning achievement of his career is without question his massive book: Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. This massive book is a look at the history of art from antiquity to the then present day which would be the Renaissance, it looked critically at Western art as well as dividing art into three periods, the Classical Age, the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. It was the first art history book and would lead to generations of scholars who rather than make their own art would look critically into the work of the past to find hidden meaning in humanities' scrawls.
sources: http://www.britannica.com/biography/Giorgio-Vasari http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/del_sarto/
https://dictionaryofarthistorians.org/vasarig.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Giorgio_Vasari.aspx
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ReplyDeleteThank you Miles.
DeleteDear William,
ReplyDeleteI like how your post describes your feelings about places in your life. The connections between historical figures and yourself really make this post very very interesting and makes me think about myself in a different way. Question: Are there any other people you find inspiring?
Sincerely,
Rylan
Dear Rylan,
DeleteThank you so much for the kind words! To answer your question, the people who inspire me most are Richard the third and Selmin the Grim.
With thanks,
William
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteI loved all the thought and connection you put into this blog! It really shows what connection you have to Vasari; although normally, I would never think of that connection. I really liked reading about Vasari's work in architecture, and literature. My one one question is, was Vasari's architecture copied to make the structures in Lewis and Clark college?
Love,
Miles
Dear Miles,
DeleteThank you very much for your compliment! Sadly the Lewis and Clark campus is not passed on Vasari's architecture:(
Love,
William
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteGreat job!! I love how you started with a personal side and wrote with a nice and casual style. It was a great idea to start with how he connects to your life, and then more historical facts toward the end. Are there any major ways your life would be different if he wouldn't have existed?
Sincerely,
Adam
Dear Adam,
DeleteThank you for your thoughtful words. To answer your question, if Vasari never existed my parents might not have met in the first place so I might have never been born.
Many thanks,
William
Hi William!
ReplyDeleteI liked how your piece was very well written and detailed. How do you think your life would be different if your parents were not art historians?
- Mikayla
Dear Mikayla,
DeleteThank you for your thoughtful comment. To answer your question, I think that if my parents were not art historians I would spend less time reading.
Thanks,
William
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteI loved all the detail in your post! I liked how you wrote about someone famous but still connected him to yourself! Sounds fun hanging around Lewis and clark. Do you think you will attend lewis and clark?
-Sanne
Hi William,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post. It was very interesting to learn about someone that isn't generally famous in our current time. I have heard of Giorgio Vasari, but didn't know much about him, so this blog post had good facts and cut straight to the point about who he was. My one question would be how long did Giorgio Vasari live too? Great work!
Sincerely,
Rachel Y.
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading you piece and I loved the personal touch you added. It was fun to read about Giorgio Vasari and before you post, I didn't really know who he was.
Great post,
Anushka:)
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteYour Blog post was very well written and I liked how you were able to make it personal. It was very informative, but still entertaining to read. At the end of the first paragraph, you say "I owe so much to Vasari, as he gave my parents their jobs and me a lasting impression of true greatness", but in what way did he give your parents their jobs?
From,
Riley
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and I liked how you showed how directly it affected you. My question is, when did Vasari die?
William,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post, it was well written and I also like how you made it personal. Who else do you find inspiring, if anybody else? Nice Work
- Isabel
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you connected Vasari to your family! I also liked how you used very descriptive language in your post.
-Emma
Dear William,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you give a very personal connection to Vasari, your discription of louis and clark really helped me imagin it. Other than painting and recording did Vasari have any other hobbies?
-Katie
William,
ReplyDeleteThis is an extremely well written post! I have seen you have an eye for juicy vocabulary as demonstrated in your multiple comments scattered among the blogs posted here, and I love seeing your beautiful writing reflected in your post! I think it's so cool you could make personal connections to Vasari! In what way did he give your parents jobs?
Best,
-Flexi