Vasari's Stories

For a historian, Vasari is very biased in his writings. Although biased and celebratory of Da Vinci, Vasari does give the reader a glimpse into this renewal of art. This period of renaissance which is considered a golden age of Italy. Vasari, and his peers, cares about the beauty and fluidity of art, and about the “superstars” of this period.

During the Middle Ages, art was anonymous, and the individual was not stressed. Yet during the “superstar” Renaissance, the individual was stressed immensely. Vasari shows the importance of this by naming artist after artist including Da Vinci, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Although these were the superstars, it still proves how much people cared about the individual who produced the art. People no longer cared for merely the art itself, they wanted to know who created it. Point in case: Da Vinci never finished a piece of work he began, but Vasari glides over that small fact, by worshipping every positive aspect of the man.

The artists themselves were not the only point of focus. The art they made was under extreme scrutiny as well. Vasari shows how important the beauty and technique of art is during this time. He spends much time writing about how works were produced, and if they met the approval of the public. His story about Da Vinci painting such as ghastly scene it took the owner by surprise proves how important the appearance of art was to Vasari and to his peers.

Although we, as a generation, may be criticized for being superficial now, we must have learned it from the best: Renaissance art was all about appearance: the appearance of the art, and of the artist.