Storiadellarte.com: italian art history

Giorgio Vasari was born in Arezzo in 1511 and worked most of his life in Florence, where he founded the Academy of Arts and Drawing with other artists. The founding principle was that drawing is the basis for all arts.
Giorgio Vasari is chiefly remembered a a storiographer and art critic. He is the author of le Vite de più eccellenti pittori, scultori et architetti. The first edition dates back to 1550 and a second expanded edition was published in 1568.
He studied the art of Michelangelo and Raffaello; this is clearly visible in his paintings with allegorical and imaginary subjects (the decorative cycle in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence) and the frescos for his own house in Arezzo.
In 1552 he started working as an architect: he received a commission from Pope Julius III to build Villa Giulia in Rome.
Other buildings he designed are the dome of Madonna dell’Umiltà in Pistoia, the balconies in Arezzo and especially the Palazzo degli Uffizi in Florence. It was started in 1560 and is divided into two parts facing one another across a narrow courtyard. At one end of the courtyard is a palladian window which connects the two parts of the building. The façade’s decorations are in Mannerist style with jutting frames and gables over the windows.
Giorgio Vasari died in Florence in 1574.