convenience from the distance of those who have engraved the heads; for if the engravers had been near me, we might probably have had the work executed with greater care than has now been done. But however this may be, our artists, and the lovers of art for whose benefit and convenience I have subjected myself to so much labour, are wholly indebted to your most illustrious Excellency, for whatever of good, useful, or agreeable may be found in this work; for, being in your Excellency's service, I have had facilities, by means of the leisure which you have been pleased to secure to me, and by the use of the many, nay, innumerable objects belonging to your Excellency, to which I have had access for the collection, arrangement, and final presentation to the world, of all that seemed desirable for the completion of the work. And now, would it not be almost impiety as well as ingratitude, should I dedicate these lives to any other than yourself?. or, if artists should attribute, whatever they may find of useful or pleasing in the work, to any one but to your Excellency? For not only was it by your help and favour that the book first received existence, and now returns to the light; but are not you alone, in imitation of our ancestors, sole father, lord, and protector, of these our arts? Most reasonable and righteous is it, therefore, that so many pictures and noble statues, with so many wondrous edifices of every kind, should be erected and executed by those in your service, and to your eternal and ever-during memory. But if we are all indebted to you for these and other causes, as we all are most deeply, how much more do not I owe you? I, who have ever received at your hands so many valued occasions (would that my head and hands were but equal to my wish and desire,) for giving proof of my slight abilities, which, whatever they may be, are very far from commensurate to the truly royal magnificence and greatness of your own mind. But what do I seek to accomplish? It were better I should remain silent than attempt that which would be wholly impossible, even to a much higher and nobler intellect,-how much more, then, to my most weak powers. Deign then, your most illustrious Excellency, to accept this myor re indeed, your-book of the Lives of the Artists in Design, and, as doth the Father of all, looking first to the heart of the writer, and the good intentions of the work, be pleased graciously to accept, not what I would, or ought to offer, but what I am able to present. Your most illustrious Excellency's Florence, 9th January, 1568. TO THE ARTISTS IN DESIGN. GIORGIO VASARI. MOST DEAR AND EXCELLENT BROTHER ARTISTS,-the delight, as well as the honour and profit that I have derived from labouring as I have best been able in these most noble arts, has ever been so great, that I have not only felt an ardent wish to exalt, to celebrate, and to honour them by every means in my power, but have also been ever most affectionately disposed towards all who take similar pleasure in them, or who have distinguished themselves more happily in the pursuit of them than I, perchance, have been able to do. And from this, my good will and fulness of most sincere affection, it appears to me, that I have hitherto gathered the due and proper fruits, having been constantly beloved and honoured by all of you; and the intercourse between us having always been of a cordial intimacy, if I might not rather say of the most perfect brotherhood,—for we have mutually laid open to each other our various works,-I to you, and you to me,assisting one another whenever the occasion presented itself, both with council and with aid. Wherefore, moved by this our affection, and much more by your excellent talents, but also by my own inclination, by nature, and by a most potent instinct and attraction, I have always felt deeply bound to gratify and serve you, in every manner, and by all means, that I have judged likely to contribute either to your enjoyment or advantage. To this end it was, that in the year 1550, I put forth the lives of those most renowned and esteemed among us, moved thereunto by a cause recounted elsewhere, and also (to declare the truth) by a generous indignation that so much talent should remain concealed for so long a time, and still continue buried. Nor does this my labour appear to have been unwelcome; on the contrary, it has been so well accepted, that, besides the many things that have been said and written to me from many parts, of the very large number that was printed of my book, there does not remain one single volume in the hands of the booksellers. Accordingly, daily receiving requests from many friends, and knowing, too, with equal certainty, the unexpressed wishes of many others, I have once more addressed myself to my former labours, (although occupied in most important undertakings) with the intention, not only of adding the names of those who, having passed in the interim to a better world, thus give me the opportunity of writing their lives at more length, but also of supplying what may have been wanting to the perfection of the first work. For I have had opportunities in the meanwhile of attaining a clearer comprehension respecting many things, and of re-examining others; not only by the favour of those my most illustrious lords (whom I serve), the refuge and protection of every subject of virtu; but likewise by the facilities which they have supplied of making new researches throughout Italy, and of seeing and examining many things which had not before come under my notice. Thus, it is not enough to say that I have corrected these lives; since they have received such large additions that many of them may be said to be written anew; while many, even of the older masters, which were not before included, have now been added to the number. Nor have any labour, cost, or pains appeared to me too great for the better restoration of the memory of those whom I so greatly honour, or for the discovering of their portraits, and the procuring them, to place before their lives. And, for the more perfect satisfaction of many friends, devoted lovers of art, though not within our ranks, I have brought into a compendious form the greater part of the works of those artists who are still living, but whose talents render them worthy to be held in constant remembrance; for that consideration which formerly restrained me, need have no influence here, if the matter be well weighed, since I propose to speak of nothing that is not good and worthy of praise. And it may be, that these my words shall serve as a spur, moving each to continue labouring worthily, and to seek to advance himself perpetually from good to better; insomuch, that he who shall write the remainder of this history, may be able to treat his subject with increased grandeur and majesty, as having to enumerate those more rare and perfect works, which, in the lapse of time, inspired by the longing for immortality, and worked out by the efforts of exalted minds, the future world shall behold, proceeding from your hands. Then the youth who pursue these studies, incited by the love of glory (when the love of gain has not so strong an influence) may perchance become inflamed by the example, and in their turn attain to excellence. And that this book may be complete in all its parts, so that the reader shall not need to seek anything beyond it, I have added great part of the works of the most celebrated ancient masters, as well Greek as of other nations, the memory of whom has been preserved even to our own days by Pliny, and other writers; but for whose pens that memory must have been buried in eternal oblivion, as is the case with so many others. And perhaps this consideration also may increase our desire to labour truly; for, seeing the nobility and greatness of our art, and how, by all nations, but especially by the most exalted minds, and the most potent rulers, it has ever been honoured and rewarded, we may all be the more influenced and impelled to adorn the world with works, infinite as to number and surpassing in their excellence,— whence, embellished by our labours, it may place us on that eminence which it has maintained those ever admirable and most celebrated spirits. Accept these my labours, therefore, with a friendly mind; whatsoever they may be, I have anxiously conducted the work to its close, for the glory of art, and to the honour of artists; receive it then as a sure token and pledge of my heart, which is of nothing more desirous than of your greatness and glory. In the which, I being received by you into your Society (wherefore I am both thankful to you, and rejoiced no little as for mine own part), it appears to me that I always, in a certain sort, participate. INTRODUCTION TO THE LIVES. SUMMARY. Origin of the Arts of Design, first known among the Chaldeans The Arts among the Egyptians and Hebrews-Among the Greeks and Romans-Among the Etruscans-Of the decline of the Arts among the Romans-The decline of Architecture less rapid-The decline of Architecture accelerated by the departure of the Emperors from Rome-The invasion of the Roman Empire by Barbarians reduces the Arts of Design to ruin-The Arts suffered injury, from the indiscreet zeal of the early Christians-Still heavier injuries inflicted by the Emperor Constans II, and by the Saracens Of the Arts under the Lombards, and of the Architecture called Gothic-Of some better buildings erected in Florence, Venice, and elsewhere-Architecture revives to a certain extent in Tuscany, and more especially at Pisa-In Lucca-Sculpture, Painting, and Mosaic, ceasing to imitate the Greeks,* begin to revive by means of the Italians-Ancient Art as distinguished from the oldConclusion. Ir is without doubt a fixed opinion, common to almost all writers, that the arts of sculpture and painting were first discovered by the nations of Egypt, although there are some who attribute the first rude attempts in marble, and the first statues and relievi, to the Chaldeans, while they accord the invention of the pencil, and of colouring, to the Greeks. But I am myself convinced, that design, which is the foundation of both these arts, nay, rather the very soul of each, comprising and nourishing within itself all the essential parts of both, existed in its highest perfection from the first moment of creation, when the Most High having formed the great body of the world, and adorned the heavens with their resplendent lights, descended by his spirit, through the limpidity of the air, and penetrating the solid mass of earth, created man; and thus unveiled, with the beauties of creation, the first form of sculpture and of painting. For from this man, as from a true model, were copied by slow degrees (we may not venture to affirm the contrary), statues and sculptures: the difficulties of varied attitude, -the flowing lines * That is, the Byzantine Greeks. |