How Do Artists See Art in Vasaris Biographies - Essay Example

How Do Artists See Art In Vasari's Biographies By the middle of the sixteenth century, neoplatonism had become extremely popular and influenced art with a kind of mystical significance. Perhaps, it was this feature that made Vasari paint his painters with a halo that, despite its questionable authenticity, still remains bright. He is at his best when describing a work that has fired his enthusiasm, telling a story, giving a rapid character-sketch, or recalling some significant gesture or encounter. Then his language becomes euphonious and lively, conveying his mood of tenderness or humor, wonder or admiration. We have to be aware of the social and cultural history of the period before we attempt an assessment of Vasari. The rising social and cultural claims of the visual arts led in the sixteenth century in Italy to an important new development that occurred in the other European countries somewhat later: the three visual arts, painting, sculpture and architecture were, for the first time clearly separated from the crafts with which they had been associated in the preceding period. The term Arti del disegno, was coined by Vasari , who used it as the guiding concept for his famous collection of the biographies. Besides, at the time of Vasari the opinion of the crowd was still considered a significant factor in the evaluation of art and therefore the addition of popular elements including a discrete element of fiction could not be faulted1. Perhaps, Vasari's verbal portraits of artists do not have the intensity or the gravity of the oeuvre of the geniuses described therein. However, his yardsticks seem to have been versatility as well as originality. Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), for example, was a Florentine architect of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, his 'genius was so commanding that we can surely say he was sent by heaven to renew the art of architecture'. Perhaps the greatest contribution made by Brunelleschi to art was to that of design through a very careful study of the perspective (The perspectival rendering of a scene is a projection of a scene from an eye point, as sectioned by the plane of the canvas.). At the time of Brunelleschi, the practice of art with the use of perspective was at an all-time low because of the errors of practice of others2 . The perfection in perspective that he achieved made him so happy that he took the trouble of drawing the Piazza san Giovanni and showed all the squares in black-and-white marble receding beautifully. In fact, Brunelleschi's genius contributed significantly to the origins of a naturalistic trait in art and a clear shift from the highly stylized modes of Renaissance art In a review of the book Georgio Vasari: Art and History that appeared in The Art Bulletin (June, 1998), Paul Barolsky has written that there was an element of mythopoesis in the writings of Vasari and this pleasurable mix of myth, document and fact has given Lives a unique place which cannot be claimed by the modern art historians. Whereas modern art historians chose to flaunt their scholarship through monographs, Vasari chose to hide himself in the glorified biographies of the artists he admired and in the process he carefully mixed into what he wrote classical and even Biblical allusions. This lent his biographies a sense of mystery and inexplicable adulation of the artists themselves and their views on art. Donatello (1386-1466) was another artistic genius whom Vasari chose to portray. He was a Florentine sculptor who had an awesome impact on the arts and artists of the Renaissance. He invented the shadow relief technique called schiacciato ('flattened out'), a technique in which the sculpture seems very deep even when done on a shallow plane. A great friend of Brunelleschi, Donatello had once remarked, after seeing an artwork based on crucifixion similar to the one made by him and criticized by Brunelleschi, that 'Your job is making Christs and mine is making peasants.' It was Donatello's humble submission of the lofty genius of his friend and his own modest talent. Donatello's diverse masterpieces had a unique expressive power that pointed the way for generations of later sculptors. Vasari argues that although his models had a kind of receptiveness to classical models, he also displayed a sense of reality that was almost spiritualised in character and in tune with the times. He also claimed that Donatello's caliber in bringing the human touch to whatever he did was due to his profound knowledge of the human anatomy. 'The Penitent Magdalene', 'The Entombment of Christ', 'The Martyrdom of St.Lawrence' are all examples of the genius of Donatello. He saw through his chisel the physical grace and beauty of the human form. Donatello was not keen on endowing his masterpieces with ornamentations from the external world; he saw the human body itself as a work of masterpiece and sought to uncover its majesty. No portrait of Vasari is as entertaining or enlightening as that of cLeonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The Florentine painter, sculptor, mathematician, astronomer and inventor belonged to the period of 'mature art' According to Vasari Da Vinci started the 'modern age' in art and showed in his productions ' an understanding of rule, a better knowledge of order, correct proportion, perfect design, and an inspired grace'. In fact, 'everything he did clearly came from God rather than from human art'. Martin Kemp in his book Leonardo Da Vinci- The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man (New York: OUP, 2004) says that the "Life of Leonardo (by Vasari) fully recognizes his subject's founding of the third and mature age of Florentine art - what we call the High Renaissance -- and he is placed with Raphael and Michelangelo in the 'divine' triumvirate who stood at the summit of what art could attain in the emulation of nature's beauties and the surpassing of the ancient masters". Vasari loses nothing in vividness while describing his great hero. Although Raphael, Michelangelo and Da Vinci form the triumvirate of artistic mastery of Renaissance, it is Da Vinci who gets the best of Vasari's colors. Perhaps, the literary merit of Vasari comes out best in his description of Mona Lisa by Da Vinci. He brilliantly recaptures the work's supreme impact. Vasari says that the painting was done "in a manner that made every able artificer, be he whom he may, tremble and lose courage." His narration of the story of the last minutes of the 'very definition of genius' is telling: he protested that he had offended God and mankind by not working at his art as he should have done . Then he was seized by a paroxysm, the forerunner of death, and to show him favour and to soothe his pain, the king held his head. Conscious of the great honor being done to him, the inspired Leonardo breathed his last in the arm of the king (242). Vasari held in high esteem the artistic merits of Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337), the Florentine painter, sculptor and architect. He stands as the key link between the Byzantine art of the Middle Ages and the more realistic and the humanistic art that flowered in the renaissance. His uniqueness was that he could lend his sculptures with a 'human emotion' so akin to the real. It is rightly said that we owed the same debt we did to nature to Giotto because through him we experienced the same kind of variegated abundance. Born the son of a poor peasant farmer, he showed the traits of artistic brilliance even as a child. Even while shepherding his vocation was to watch over nature and its brilliance. The rarer sensibility that he acquired to see nature and the 'truth' of nature contributed significantly to the flowering of his genius. Adopted by the great Cimabue, Giotto outshone is master and made a decisive break with the crude and traditional Byzantine style by bringing into painting the truth of everyday living. Most of his paintings were done for chapels. His picture of the Annunciation done for the chapel of the high altar of the abbey of Florence was a masterly depiction of the fear and trembling of the Virgin Mary before the Archangel Gabriel. Vasari writes that 'Our Lady is so fearful that it appears as if she is longing to run away.' In the Upper Church of San Francisco, on the two sides of the church under the gallery that crosses the windows, Giotto painted thirty two histories from the life and works of St. Francis. The genius of the artist that came through in these works brought him name and fame. Giotto brought to the work not only his mastery of the craft but also an attention to detail that was unparalleled. Pope Benedict IX wanted a few paintings to be commissioned for St. Peter's. The Pope was skeptical about the draughtsmanship of Giotto, so he wanted his men to estimate his mastery before authorizing any work. Vasari reports that he drew the most perfect 'O' with one hand and sent it to the Pope who was terribly impressed. Perhaps, in the history of art, Giotto was the only disciple who showed the daring to paint a fly on his master's canvas . Vasari's account of Giotto is different from others in the sense that he has included the names of a few of his disciples as well. Taddeo Gaddi, Puccio Capanna and Pace da Faenza are just a few of the names included. Michelangelo Buonarraoti's (1475 - 1564) portrait in words is the most colorful one by Vasari. Vasari describes him as the man to whom God 'determined to give the knowledge of the true moral philosophy and the ornament of sweet poesy, so that everyone might admire and follow him as their perfect exemplar in life, work, and behaviour and in every endeavor... (339).' Vasari talks of his friendship with Michelangelo quite authentically and claims that he was the only possessor of material fit enough to be printed on the great master. Once, it seems he confessed to Vasari, "Georgio, if I have anything good in my brain, it has come from my being born in the pure air of your country of Arezzo, even as I also sucked in with my nurse's milk the chisels and hammer with which I make my statues" (341). Michelangelo's apprenticeship under Domenico Ghirlandaio was quite useful and the master saw in his disciple the blossoming of pure art in its best form. Vasari writes that it was his inborn sense of judgment and instinctive grace that made him the greatest. Perhaps, the greatest manifestation of the genius of Michelangelo is Pieta in St Basilica's Cathedral in Rome. The sculpture depicting the body of Jesus in the arms of his mother Mary is still considered the greatest by the critics. "The lovely expression of the haad, the harmony in the joints and the attachment of the arms, legs, and trunk, and the pulses and vains so wrought, that in truth Wonder herself must marvel that the hand of a craftsman should have been able to execute so divinely and so perfectly" (350). Michelangelo mistrusted the application of mathematical models as guarantees of beauty in proportion. He believed that the measure and proportion should come from the eyes. Vasari says that Michelangelo declared "it was necessary to have the compasses in the eyes and not in the hand, because the hands work and the eye judges." Interestingly, Michelangelo also believed that the only pressure that the artist ought to feel is that of the completion of idea and nothing else. Vasari's anecdote of how Michelangelo silenced the critic who complained that the nose of David was a bit too thick by climbing the scaffolding and acting to be chipping away at the nose and throwing down the marble dust that was already there much to the satisfaction of the critic speaks a lot of the nature of criticism prevalent even today. Michelangelo always argued for the freedom of the artist, especially from sponsors who knew little of art. His views could be considered to be the doctrine of humanism in art. His works departed from the boring regularity of High Renaissance and put in its place a style of vast, expressive strength conveyed through complex and often titanic forms.{this is good but you have to document the resource} For David, Michelangelo took up not a triumphant David, but one who turning his head to the left was all vigil over the approaching foe. The young hero's muscular torso and posture convey the whole mood of tense expectation. Helen Gardner's mammoth Art Through the Ages (New York: Harcourt, 2001) makes this interesting observation: "As early as the David, Michelangelo invested his efforts in presenting towering pent-up emotion rather than calm ideal beauty. He transferred his own doubts, frustrations, and passions into the great figure he created or planned" (647). Although Vasari's Lives is still considered the most comprehensive account of the biographies of artists, the common complaint is that he is too parochial. His regional loyalties and prejudices cloud what could have been a sunny effort at hagiography. His rather frequent insistence on the supremacy of the Florentine art and sculpture compels one to think that all art had Florence as its epicenter. Giorgio Vasari is best remembered for his intimate style of 'life painting.' He endows his portraits with a rare blend of observations and anecdotes. Many critics have faulted Vasari for his flair for anecdotage. Nevertheless, Lives of Artists still remains the most comprehensive gallery of artists who flourished during the Renaissance. Footnotes 1. Giorgio Vasari. Lives of the Artists. (London: Penguin, 1967), p.18. 2. Vasari.p.134. Works cited. 1. Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the most excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects. with the 2. Barolsky, Paul. Review, Vasari: Art and History. The Art Bulletin, June 1998. 3. Kemp, Martin. Leonardo Da Vinci. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA 1981. 4. Gardner, Helen. Art Through the Ages, Harcourt College Publishers: Orlando, FL 2001. Read More