The Great Masters: Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian

by Giorgio Vasari

"Handsome printing with 120 full-color plates and 127 black and white illustrations. Vasari is recognized as the first historian of art and an important Florentine painter and architect of the sixteenth century. With an ear for gossip, Vasari recorded for posterity the particulars of their lives while giving early expression to the worlds lasting admiration for their genius."

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Art History, Renaissance, Reference

388 pages, Hardcover

First published December 28, 1986

About the author

Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter and architect, known for his famous biographies of Italian artists.

Reviews

[Toni Warden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me fall in love with the power of artistry.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book completes my goal to read every book my dad left to me when he passed away (now 24 years ago). It was the last book cause I was always intimidated by the text (it's the writing of a 16th century art Historian, Giorgio Vasari, considered to be I learned THE 1st art historian). This book is an English translation from the original Italian and includes his biographies (or Lives as his original texts were titled) of the following Renaissance artists, sculptors, architects: Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo, and Titian. The reproductions included in this Art book are what drew me in as a kid, and I can appreciated the art more now as an adult and even remember much of what I learned from my Art History and Humanities courses (thank you Ms.Garcia!). I thought it was also really interesting since Vasari actually knew most of these artists and was in fact an apprentice to Michaelango, which he discusses as well in the book. The text can get boring at times with all the details to architecture but that's also cause I'm not as interested in architecture. The illustrations if anything make this book worth viewing.

[Shadow Man · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leonardo had the hands of a god. With that inhuman power he had the ability to recreate reality that was superior to ours from his color and draughtsmanship.
The Mona Lisa took him 16 years to paint, the most famous painting. From accounts on this book he was godlike with such talent.
Being so patient to animals and well in conversations. Even buying the price of caged birds from men and once purchased he’ll set them to their freedom.
A polymath, the renaissance man and creator of the last supper. He was also perhaps the smartest man of his time and one could argue he still is.
I think Leonardo should have his own movie, his own cinematic universe. What he did enriched art and invention. He is a powerful thought left unforgotten.

[HalfWay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pros
- There are images.
-The images are usually ordered from earlier to later paintings, so you can examine differences between paintings.
- There are occasionally amusing tales of the artist

Cons
- This book bored the heck out of me.
- The text was translated from the 1550s into modern English, which amps the boring factor.
- Images didn't line up with the text well.
- You'll repeatedly see shallow phrases like, "Very beautiful" for descriptions.
-This book is still boring.

What should you do?
-Go look at Wikipedia instead.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big oversize book, with excellent collection of prints.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get the Beaux Art edition!!!

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

An art history classic.