Topic: Vasari: Myth-maker of the Renaissance.
Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Famous Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (first
published in 1550) is perhaps the most important book written on the history of Renaissance art.
It contains not only a vast array of biographies and thousands of facts (and some lies!), but also
the structure of artistic development and importance to which we still subscribe.  Vasari did not
pretend to be an objective observer of his time, but rather a proponent for what was considered to
be the most consequential artists and events of his time.  In this seminar, we will read Vasari to
understand how his views have come to shape our ordering of Renaissance art.