Vasari Publishes the Lives of the Artists

1550

The Tuscan painter-architect Giorgio Vasari released a compendium of biographies of Italian artists from Cimabue to Michelangelo. He invented the idea of a Renaissance that progressed toward perfection and made the artist a biographical subject worthy of literature. Art history began with his gossip. He invented the concept of rinascita, giving the period its name and its narrative of progressive improvement. Art history began with his gossip.