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The Collector of Lives

Giorgio Vasari and the Invention of Art

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About this listen

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) was a man of many talents - a sculptor, painter, architect, writer, and scholar - but he is best known for Lives of the Artists, which singlehandedly established the canon of Italian Renaissance art. Before Vasari's extraordinary book, art was considered a technical skill, and artists were mere decorators and craftsmen. It was through Vasari's visionary writings that Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo came to be regarded as great masters of life as well as art, their creative genius celebrated as a divine gift.

Lauded by Sarah Bakewell as "insightful, gripping, and thoroughly enjoyable", The Collector of Lives reveals how one Renaissance scholar completely redefined how we look at art.

©2017 Ingrid Rowland and Noah Charney (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Art Art & Literature Artists, Architects & Photographers Europe Italy Renaissance Middle Ages
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I couldn't stay focused with her monoton voice had to send it back in exchange for another.

the voice was too boaring for me

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A really great book for anyone interested in learning more about the personalities of renaissance art but utterly spoiled by a terrible performance. The voice is so monotonous it’s impossible to follow. She has no range or modulation so it’s easy to miss what text is quotation of historical source and what’s the author’s own text. The book is full of quotes so this is a huge problem.

Good book. Dreadful performance.

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