You may know much about the Italian Renaissance, but you may not have ‘seen’ it through the eyes and mind of Giorgio Vasari. Vasari was a true ‘Renaissance man’; painter of cool crisp portraits for the Medici Court, an energetic sculptor who carved the tomb of his hero and friend Michelangelo, talented architect of the Loggia and ‘Corridor’ of the Uffizi, and above all, last but not least, renowned as the writer of 180 biographies of Renaissance artists. In fact, the very term ‘Renaissance’ came from his use of the word ‘rinascita’ to describe Giotto. The whole project of the Lives of the Artists, dedicated to Duke Cosimo I de Medici, took on political significance as a 2000-page piece of propaganda for Florentine genius. So influential was the ‘Lives’, published in 1550 and again in 1568, that it is still seen as the origin of the entire discipline of art history, affecting the subsequent approach to the Renaissance, and even to the practice of art, ever since.
Yet scholars have learned to take some of Vasari’s stories with a pinch of salt, especially when describing artists from before his time. He often resorts to marvellous and often amusing anecdotes: of the boy Giotto painting a fly on a nose in a portrait painted by Cimabue, who subsequently tried to wipe it off with his hand; of the 14c painter Buffalmocco playing endlessly elaborate and entertaining pranks on his unsuspecting contemporaries; of Uccello so obsessed with solving the challenge of portraying perspective he ignored his wife’s pleas to join her in bed; of Domenico Veneziano’s murder by Andrea del Castagno when actually Veneziano outlived him; of Piero di Cosimo, who boiled eggs in batches of fifty, and ate them when he felt the necessity for food; of his contemporary Baccio Bandinelli, always decrying and maligning the works of others and bringing it about that no one could ‘endure him’. He does not exclude women artists, and tells the story of Sofonisba Anguissola’s witty exchange with Michelangelo, in which she responded to his critique of her drawing of a laughing girl by sending him a drawing of a boy crying, thereby revealing both her intellect and her skill. Vasari’s fascinating and delightful liberties with the truth have been often commented upon.
What is less well-known is the marvellous vivacity of his writing; his is a colourful, evocative, humorous, vibrant and profound Renaissance. He is the Shakespeare of art history, replete with a sense of the tragedies, comedies and mysteries of the human condition. He is at his best when dealing either with an earlier generation’s contribution to the glories of his beloved Florence, like Brunelleschi’s Dome, or with the work of his contemporaries and friends like Michelangelo, of whose ‘Last Judgement’ Vasari remarked that the artist had ‘given so much power to the paintings in the work that he attested to the saying of Dante: ‘The dead seemed dead, and the living seemed alive.’
In this course we will focus particularly on the most colourful and evocative biographies. It is our intention that Vasari will deepen our understanding of the whole astonishing period of the ‘Rinascita’ and the numerous extraordinary challenges its artists overcame, whether in their often bitter competition with their equally ambitious rivals, their dealings with irascible patrons, or their ability to soar above these concerns to produce art that continues to uplift and inspire us nearly five centuries on. Please do join us!
Information:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
‘Vasari’s Lives Of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects’ is a Zoom course (for which we offer support to access) which has been developed, designed and edited by Louise Friend and will be presented by Nicholas Friend. It is held on Thursdays, Part I begins on Thursday 15 January 2026 at 5pm and ends on Thursday 19 February. After a half term break Part II begins on 5 March and continues until 2 April 2026 at 5pm.
If you book for the course but cannot manage a particular date, then be assured we will be sending recordings of sessions to all registered participants. Each session meets from 15 minutes before the advertised time of the lecture, and each lasts roughly one hour with 15 minutes discussion.
COST:
Part I: £300 for members, £360 non-members for eight sessions.
Part II: £250 for members, £300 for non-members for six sessions.
Discounted cost for the entire course of eleven sessions £525 members, £635 for non-members. All sessions are limited to 21 participants to permit a vibrant after-lecture discussion session.
Please make your payment to Friend&Friend Ltd by bank transfer to our account with Metrobank, bank sort code 23-05-80, account number 13291721 or via PayPal to nicholas@inscapetours.co.uk, or credit/debit card by phone to Henrietta on 07940 719 397 who is available on Tuesdays or Thursdays between 2-5 pm.
How to Set Up a PayPal account::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Click on this link: https://www.paypal.com/uk/home
In the upper right-hand corner of the screen, click “Sign up.”
On the following screen choose “Personal account” and click “Next.”
On the next page, you’ll be asked to enter your name, email address and to create and confirm a password. When finished, click “Next.”
Click “Agree and create account” and your PayPal account will be created.
How to Connect your Bank Account to your PayPal account:::::::::::::::::::::::
Log on to your account and click the “Wallet” option in the menu bar running along the top of the screen.
On the menu running down the left side of the screen, click the “Link a credit or debit card”.
Enter the card information you wish to link to your PayPal account and click “Link card” for debit card.
How to Send Money::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Log on to your account. Click Send & Request.
Enter the email address of the person you wish to send money to: nicholas@inscapetours.co.uk
Type in the amount you wish to send, click continue then press ‘Send Money Now’.
INSCAPE CULTURAL STUDY SOCIETY 