Thesis--Bonn. / Spine title: Studien zu den Uffizien G. Vasaris in Florenz. Includes bibliographical references (p. 472-494).

Thesis--Bonn. / Spine title: Studien zu den Uffizien G. Vasaris in Florenz. Includes bibliographical references (p. 472-494).

Zugl.: Frankfurt (Main), Univ., Diss., 2005

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1973. / Bibliography: leaves [558]-577.

Extr. révisé et remanié: Th.--Sciences du langage, Option Arts et littérature--Paris--École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 37-42. PULIM = Presses universitaires de Limoges.

Proefschrift--Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, 1992. / Résumé en anglais et en italien.

From Introduction: Giorgio Vasari's first and second editions of his 'Lives of the Artists I appeared respectively in 1550 and 1568, just after the great period of Renaissance art in Florence and Rome had ended. As a practising Florentine architect, painter and sculptor who travelled extensively in Italy, sari could write with authority on the development of these arts throughout what he saw ~s the whole Renaissance period in that country, from the l ate 13th to the mid-16th century. Gathering information from all possible sources, his 'Lives' constitute the first comprehensive historical - critical survey of Italian Renaissance art. Much of their value resides in the first hand information they contain concerning the artists (Michelangelo in particular) who were his contemporaries, and in reflecting the aesthetic attitudes prevalent in a peak period in the history of art.

When Giorgio Vasari wrote the 'Vite de'piu eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori', the intended audience of his text not only included the artists of his own time, but also involved his Medici patrons. Indeed, the book was dedicated to Cosimo I de'Medici. The 'Vite' were thus intended as a guide for artists and as a means of paying homage to Vasari's patron. The quest for artistic perfection, through knowledge, was united with courtly principles and iconography, resulting in the raising of the status of the arts above the level of the mechanical. This was most resolutely achieved through the analysis of medicine, and in particular, the theory of the four humours, which not only governed medical practice, but also were of astrological and philosophical significance. While Vasari's vocabulary drew upon the symbolism of the Medici, who were born under the planet of Saturn, which also governed the melancholy humour, his discussion of the diseases suffered by artists was based upon the sciences of Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen and Avicenna and were mainly caused by melancholy. Vasari's text also provided the melancholic with his cure, most notably at the Company of the Cazzuola. Here, the artists and their Medici patrons could find repose and amusement. Entertainments were based upon those of the court and included theatrical performances and banqueting. However, medical knowledge was also of practical significance to the painter and the sculptor. It provided a guide to the internal workings of man and thus, the external appearance of disease in the human body. The alteration in human appearance, as a symptom of disease was fully noted by Vasari in his physiognomic descriptions of the artists' appearances caused by temperament, character and disease and finally, found inclusion in the teachings of the Accademia del Disegno of which Giorgio Vasari had been a founding member.

Vincenzo Danti (1530-1576), Perugian by birth and training, relocated to Florence in 1557 to work for the Medici court. While there, Danti completed visual and textual works oriented to the interests of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574) and his son, Prince Francesco (1541-1587). Danti also participated in the literary and arts academies that were associated with the ducal program of establishing Florentine cultural supremacy. Danti’s multi-disciplinary activities during his tenure at the Medici court demonstrate his hopes to secure long-term patronage and to become the primary sculptor to the Medici dukes. This project represents both a reappraisal of Vincenzo Danti’s career and an examination of the ways that artists at the Medici court positioned themselves in relationship to their patrons and to one another. / text

Thesis advisor: Stephanie Leone / Despite a surge of scholarly and public interest in the mid-twentieth century, Mannerism remains an ill-defined and problematic period label. The first goal of my thesis is to define the style in its chronology and stylistic attributes. Noting its artificiality and the influence of self-fashioning, I identify its clearest definition in Giorgio Vasari's writing and art. Second, I discuss the use of the sophisticated style by the artist and his patron, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, as a means of social advancement and legitimization. Finally, I analyze the iconography and style of the Sala dei Cento Giorni in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome as the collaborative apex of the self-fashioning of Vasari and Farnese. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Fine Arts. / Discipline: College Honors Program.