Arezzo hosts the magnificent exhibit on Giorgio Vasari’s incredible world of art

Arezzo, the quaint little Italian Tuscan town located 200 km north of Rome, is the birthplace of Giorgio Vasari (1511- Florence 1574) and also of Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374).

Vasari's amazing painting here below, "The dinner of Esther and Ahasuerus" (1549),

A shot of the "Chimera".

Vasari was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian and biographer who is best known for his 750-page work, “Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects” (which I read it). It's considered to be the ideological foundation of western art-historical writing and which is still quoted in modern biographies of the many Italian Renaissance artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Vasari’s own idol Michelangelo (Caravaggio and other famous artists are also in his book).

Cimabue's "Crucifixion", Giotto's old master (so they say).

The Piazza Grande of Arezzo.

Vasari has been often called "the first art historian" who had invented the genre of the encyclopaedia of artistic biographies.  It was the first time that art history and artists were systematically written. 

Vasari had also been the darling of Grand Duke Cosimo the 1^st de’ Medici.  He had worked in Florence designing the long passage, aka the “Vasari Corridor”, which connects the Uffizi Museum to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno river. 

As part of the 450^th anniversary of Vasari’s death Arezzo’s museums are currently displaying his many exquisite paintings and also other historic artefacts, such as the the “Chimera” statue which dates back to the 4^th century B.C. as well as paintings by Luca Signorelli, Piero della Francesca and Cimabue.  

The "Chimera" was discovered on November 15, 1553, by construction workers near the San Lorentino gate in Arezzo (ancient Arretium).  Giorgio Vasari tracked down the statue motif by studying Ancient Greek and Roman coins, such as a silver stater featuring an image of the "Chimera", thus accurately identifying it.  After having been discovered it made its way to Florence where it was eventually moved to the Uffizi Palace in 1718.  Since 1870, the "Chimera" of Arezzo has made its home at the National Archaeological Museum in Florence.

Piero della Francesca.

A detail of Cimabue's "Crucifixion".

 
The Vasari event goes on until February 2^nd, 2025 (certain exhibits have been extended until March 3^rd, 2025).  All pics by the way were taken with the Leica V-Lux 4.