Giorgio Vasari

Overview

Giorgio Vasari’s Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori (first published 1550, revised 1568) is the most influential document in Leonardo scholarship, yet it is often criticized for its anecdotal style and pro-Tuscan bias.

Vasari was the first to frame Leonardo’s life as a narrative of divine genius, but his reliance on hearsay for the Milanese periods led to several significant errors. For example, his claim that Andrea del Verrocchio quit painting forever in shame after seeing Leonardo’s angel in the Baptism of Christ is now considered apocryphal.

However, modern research has increasingly validated many of Vasari’s most contentious claims. The 2005 Heidelberg discovery confirmed his identification of the Mona Lisa sitter and his 1503 dating, which scholars had doubted for centuries.

Furthermore, Vasari had direct contact with Leonardo’s inner circle; in 1566, he visited Francesco Melzi at his villa in Lombardy, where he personally handled Leonardo’s anatomical drawings and manuscripts. This provides a unique historical anchor for his descriptions of Leonardo’s lost materials, such as the "thousands of drawings" Melzi inherited.

Technical analysis often contradicts Vasari’s narrative framing, particularly regarding his "black and white" portrayal of artistic rivalry.

While Vasari described the Leonardo-Michelangelo relationship as one of pure competition and hatred, preparatory drawings reveal a mutual artistic exchange that Vasari likely suppressed to emphasize the heroic struggle of the High Renaissance.

Why It Matters

Vasari did not just record art history; he created the "Vincian Legend" that persists in popular culture today, and his direct interaction with Melzi makes him an irreplaceable—if biased—witness to the state of Leonardo’s legacy in the mid-16th century.

Timeline

• 1511: Born in Arezzo, Italy.
• 1550: First edition of The Lives published; establishes the "Florentine lady" Lisa del Giocondo identification.
• 1563: Commissions to redecorate the Palazzo Vecchio, potentially painting over Leonardo's Anghiari.
• 1566: Visits Francesco Melzi in Vaprio d'Adda; sees the original manuscripts and the Melzi portrait of Leonardo.
• 1568: Second edition of The Lives published; incorporates findings from the Melzi visit.
• 1574: Death of Vasari in Florence.

Key Claims

• Supported: Sitter for Mona Lisa was Lisa del Giocondo
• Supported: Leonardo was the student of Verrocchio
• Disputed: Leonardo died in the arms of King Francis I
• Supported: Michelangelo and Leonardo were fierce rivals
• Supported: Melzi held the manuscripts like "relics"
• Supported: Raphael refined Leonardo's style
• Contradicted: Andrea del Castagno murdered Domenico Veneziano