The First Professional Philistine

Many who have seen Giorgio Vasari’s work in Florence will wonder how such a mediocre painter should rate so much attention. Ingratiating companion of the rich and famous, workmanlike over-achiever and tireless self-promoter, Vasari was the perfect man for his time.

Born in Arezzo, in 1511, a fortunate introduction to Cardinal Silvio Passerini gave him the chance of an education in Florence with the young Medici heirs, Ippolito and Alessandro. In his early years, he became a fast and reliable frescoist gaining a reputation for customer satisfaction. In the 1530s, after various commissions around Italy, he returned to Florence just when Cosimo I was beginning his plans to remake the city.

Vasari became Cosimo’s court painter and architect, the most prolific fresco machine, painting over countless good frescoes of the 1300s. But more than for his paintings, Vasari lives on through his book, the Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, a series of exhaustive, gossipy biographies of artists.