Author(s): Vasari, Giorgio
Reader(s): Jason, Neville
Label: Naxos AudioBooks
Genre: Biographies
Catalogue No: NA625512
Barcode: 9789626342558
Release Date: 06/2002

VASARI, G.: Lives of the Great Artists (The) (Selections)

Five hundred years after they were written, Vasari’s Lives of the Artists remains the principal source book on the remarkable flowering of Italian painting in the fifteenth century. Here are Giotto, Cimabue, Ucello, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo, Botticelli, Mantegna, Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Titian and even Vasari himself. In all, there are biographies of over thirty-five artists. This 6 CD set offers a carefully chosen selection of the most interesting and relevant sections—how and why the artists painted and sculpted, how they lived and the pressures they were under. An absorbing insight into another world, featuring music from the Italian Renaissance.

Tracklist

Disc 1
Vasari, Giorgio - Author
1Preface to The Lives08:02
2Cimabue c. 1240-1302? (1240-1300)07:00
3Giotto c. 1267-1377 (1276-1336)09:10
4'When the Pope had seen these works he was so enchanted...'06:10
5Andrea Pisano c. 1290-1248/907:13
6Luca Della Robbiia 1399/1400-1482 (1388-?)06:26
7Paolo Uccello 1396/7-1475 (1350-1432)11:52
8Lorenzo Ghiberti 1378-145505:46
9'Donatello and Filippo,when they perceived what diligence Lorenzo had devoted to his work...'07:39
10Masaccio 1401-1428 (?-1443)05:54
11Filippo Brunelleschi 1377-144603:42
Disc 2
1Brunelleschi:Filippo was born in the year 137707:26
2'On his arrival, the wardens of S. Maria del Fiore...'08:48
3'It then occurred to Filippo that he would make a model...'07:40
4'The murmurers had now been silenced...'06:08
5Donatello 1386?-1466 (1383-1466)11:08
6Piero della France c. 1410/20-149205:25
7Fra Angelico c. 1410/20-1492 (1387-1455)06:10
8Antonello da Messina c. 1430-147904:57
9Fra Filippo Lippi c. 1406-1469 (1381-1438)07:24
10Jacopo, c. 1400-1470/71, Gentile 1429?-1507 & Giovanni Bellini c. 1430/40-151608:23
11Sandro Botticelli 1444/5-1510 (1437-1515)05:55
Disc 3
1Andrea Verrocchio c. 1435-148807:38
2Andrea Mantegna 1431-1506 (1451-1517)05:16
3Luca Signorelli 1441?-1523 (1439-1521)04:38
4Leonardo da Vinci 1452-151907:11
5'He afterwards devoted even greater care to the study of anatomy...'06:08
6Giorgione 1476/8-1510 (1470-1511)04:25
7Piero di Cosimo c. 1462-1521? (1441-1521)05:40
8Bramante 1444-151407:38
9Fra Bartolommeo 1472/5-1517 (1469-1517)08:52
10Raphael 1483-152009:35
11'While he was engaged in producing these marvels...05:38
12'In his childhood Raphael imitated the style of Pietro Perugino...'06:30
Disc 4
1Andrea del Sarto 1486-1530 (1478-1520)04:39
2'At that time there was a sacristan...'05:55
3'When Andrea left for France, the men of the Scalzo, believing he would never return...'07:33
4Rosso Fiorentino 1495-1540 (?-1541)09:09
5Francesco Mazzuoli called Parmigianino 1503-1540 (1504-1540)08:14
6Albrecht Durer 1471-152808:08
7Giulio Romano Romano prob. 1499-1546 (1492-1546)09:26
8Sebastiano del Piombo c. 1485-1547 (1475-1547)08:10
9Jacopo da Pontormo 1494-1556 (1493-1558)08:44
10'By these and his other works Jacopo took rank beside Andrea del Sarto...'09:28
Disc 5
1Jacopo Tintoretto 1518-159403:16
2Francesco de Salviati 1510-156306:27
3'Accordingly, they united to spread abroad slanders...'04:15
4Michelangelo Buonarotti 1475-156410:01
5'Lorenzo's garden was full of antiquities...'09:35
6'When the statue was finished, Michelangelo uncovered it...'11:41
7'After the Pope had returned to Rome...'09:35
8'While Michelangelo was at Carrara selecting marble...'09:48
9'Michelangelo had already finished three-quarters of the work when the Pope went to see it...'10:00
10'I had returned to Florence to serve Duke Cosimo in 1544...'04:47
Disc 6
1'Michelangelo was employed by Paul IV. on the fortifications of Rome...'04:32
2'Michelangelo was devoted to the labours of the arts, seeing he mastered every difficulty...'04:32
3'Michelangelo enjoyed excellent health...'06:29
4Titian c. 1485-1576 (1480-?)06:09
5'The year that Andrea Gritti was appointed doge...'04:39
6'Titian did for Queen Mary a Prometheus bound to a rock...'03:31
7Jacopo Sansovino 1486-1570 (1477-1570)06:51
8'The Florentine nation being at that time raised by the favour of Pope Leo...'05:38
9Giorgio Vasari 1511-157410:26
10'But as I was thus winning honour, fame and riches under the protection of Duke Alessandro...'09:32
11'I left Rome in October 1546 and went to Florence...'09:26

Total Playing Time: 07:48:03