The life and inspiring works of the artist who gives your room his name: 13. Giorgio Vasari***

Portrait of Giorgio Vasari. Attributed to Jacopo Zucchi, Detail. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) is famous for writing the first important book on Art History, The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, a series of biographies which lauded Michelangelo as the apotheosis of artistic development. It is still widely read today, despite criticisms that it concentrates too much on the Renaissance in Vasari’s native Florence, at the expense of other centres, such as Venice and Flanders.

Such is the book’s fame that Vasari’s other achievements can often be overlooked, for, as well as a writer and historian, he was also a highly talented painter, an innovative architect and a pioneer town planner.

Georgio Vasari: Dome interior, Palazzo Vecchio fresco, Uffizi loggia, Part of the Vasari corridor. Attributions at end.

Shaping the face of Florence

He painted (with others) the flamboyant interior of the dome of Florence’s cathedral, and some stirring frescoes in the palazzo vecchio; he designed the city’s administrative centre, the uffizi (offices), including its loggia, creating the first regularised streetscape with unified architecture in Europe.

Oh, and of course, he built the celebrated, elevated Vasari corridor, linking the palazzo vecchio with the Pitti Palace, so that his Grand Duke, Cosimo 1 de’ Medici, wouldn’t have to mix with the hoi polloi on his way home. (Or, more seriously, could avoid being attacked by rival factions when passing through areas of the city controlled by them.)

An eye for beauty in everyday life

Vasari also built the Fish Loggia (home of the fish market), one of our (many) favourite buildings in Florence. Originally there was a double row of eight arches (increased to nine by Cosimo III in 1699) on alternating pairs of square and round columns, enclosing canopied vaults. And around the outside, there are colourful tondi celebrating fish and fishing, as well as exuberant coats of arms.

Georgio Vasari. Fish loggia. Di Rufus46 – Opera propria, CC BY-SA 3.0, Public domain, via WikiCommons.

So, all in all there is much more to Giorgio Vasari than a mere bestselling, highly influential book. His oher elegant works can be seen throughout his beloved Florence.

Georgio Vasari. The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. Title page. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

*** Who wants a number on the bedroom door when they could be staying in Botticelli, Bronzino or Brunelleschi? Or Gentileschi, Ghirlandaio or Ghiberti? Or one of another half-dozen famous Italian artists, from Alberti to Vasari?

Some years ago, we decided to switch from numbers to names in each of our rooms. They celebrate famous Italian artists, mainly from the Renaissance and mainly men, because (a) the early Renaissance is our favourite artistic period and (b) because few women were painting professionally in those days, and even fewer have become famous.

At Lois’ insistence we included Artemesia Gentileschi on our list a few years ago, and in 2026 we have introduced Sofonisba Anguissola, despite her tongue-twisting name.