Traduzione in inglese delle tre introduzioni alle arti dell'architettura, scultura e pittura alle Vite di Giorgio Vasari.

“Readers curious about the making of Renaissance art, its cast of characters and political intrigue, will find much to relish in these pages.” —Wall Street Journal 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.

"Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects" in 10 volumes is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered one of the most influential and most-read work of the older literature of art, as well as the first important book on art history. The title is often abridged to just the Vite or the Lives. As the first Italian art historian, Vasari initiated the genre of an encyclopedia of artistic biographies that continues today. The book contains the biographies of many important Italian artists, including a sketch of Vasari's autobiography, and is also adopted as a sort of classical reference guide for their names.

Exploring the lives and achievements of over 1,000 extraordinary men and women, this book offers answers to the age-old questions about the relationship between mental illness and greatness, and also reveals factors that predict creative achievement. The book is filled with colorful stories about many of the most eminent artists, scientists, social activists, politicians, soldiers, and business people of our time. Moving beyond anecdotal accounts, The Price of Greatness is based on over 10 years of original scientific research on major 20th-century figures. Delving into many of humankind's greatest achievements and the special attributes and backgrounds of those who accomplished them, this illuminating work will interest anyone who wants to know why some people achieve fame - and what price they may pay in the process.