Arezzo: House of Giorgio Vasari, the First Art Historian

House of Giorgio Vasari

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In 1541 the artist and writer Giorgio Vasari (1511-74) bought a house in his native city of Arezzo. He then spent the next three decades, when he could take time out of his very busy schedule, decorating it with paintings. Although more than four hundred years have passed since Vasari died, the rooms have been preserved substantially unchanged, giving us a glimpse into the life of a cultured figure of the Renaissance. 

Today, Giorgio Vasari is far more famous as a writer than a painter, having penned, in 1550, Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori (Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects), which was revised and enlarged in 1568. His book is considered to be the world's first art history text. 

In 1911, to mark the 400th anniversary of his birth, a monument to its most famous son was erected in Arezzo's Palazzo delle Logge. The sculpture, the work of A. Lazzerini, reminds us that Vasari was also an architect. The building in the background is a reference to the Palazzo degli Uffizi in Florence, which Vasari designed. 

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Monument to Giorgio Vasari (1911) by A. Lazzerini, Palazzo delle Logge