CBC Ideas has aired an excellent program on Giorgio Vasari ‘Lives’ and the influence of Vasari’s work on the conception of art and artists.  Vasari is a personal favourite of mine having designed the Uffizi Loggia and the ceiling of Florence’s Duomo among a host of other fantastic artistic and architectural gems.

In the mid-1500s, Giorgio Vasari’s short biographies created art history, the artist as genius and even the “Renaissance”. Although rife with inaccuracies and outright lies, his book is still the source on Leonardo, Michelangelo, and many others. Tony Luppino leafs through Vasari’s Lives to see how it still shapes our ideas of art.

Image courtesy of CBC Ideas