Giorgio Vasari

Timeline

1. 1511–1531Arezzo · TuscanyVasari was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, and as a youth studied under the local painter Guillaume de Marcillat, later moving to Florence into the Medici court circle, where he studied under Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio. In his youth he traveled to Rome, was deeply influenced by Michelangelo's works, and formed a lifelong friendship and mentorship with him.
2. 1531–1550Florence · TuscanyBetween 1531 and 1550 Vasari traveled widely across Italy, producing numerous frescoes and altarpieces for nobles and religious institutions in Rome, Naples, Florence, and elsewhere. During the core period of 1531–1540 he was at a crucial stage in forming his artistic style, moving between Florence and Rome, exchanging ideas with the leading artists of the day, while systematically collecting biographical material on artists to prepare for his future Lives.
3. 1550–1560Florence · TuscanyIn 1550 Vasari published the first edition of the Lives in Florence, establishing his position as the West's first art historian. The book used the "Renaissance" as its core narrative framework, systematically describing the evolution of art from Giotto to Michelangelo. In 1563 he helped found the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence, one of the earliest art academies in European history.
4. 1560–1574Florence · TuscanyFrom the 1560s Vasari was commissioned by Grand Duke Cosimo I of Tuscany to design and oversee construction of the Uffizi Palace (today the Uffizi Gallery), one of the most important buildings of the late Italian Renaissance. In 1568 he published an expanded edition of the Lives, adding biographies of many living artists and making the work far more complete and detailed. He died in Florence in 1574, the same year as Cosimo I.