Giorgio Vasari’s Prefaces: Art and Theory provides students and scholars alike with the opportunity to study and understand the art, theory, and visual culture of Giorgio Vasari and sixteenth century Italy. For the first time all of Vasari’s Prefaces from the Lives of the Artists (1568) are included translated into English as well as in the original Italian. Also included is an English translation of Giovanni Battista Adriani’s letter to Giorgio Vasari enlightening Vasari on the art of the ancient masters.
Through the eyes of Vasari, this book captures the creative achievements of his fellow artists – how they adopt nature and the classical tradition as their muses and how they ingeniously interpret the secular and religious themes of the past and present. Vasari himself is lauded for the transformation of the artist from one of being a mere laborer to one who imbues his work with intellectual depth and is recognized as a creator of beautiful visual myths.

Liana De Girolami Cheney, Professor of Art History and Chairperson of the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, is author and coauthor of numerous books and articles, including, Botticelli’s Neoplatonic Images (1983); The Religious Architecture of Lowell (1984); The Paintings of the Casa Vasari (1985); Whistler and His Birthplace, Lowell (1988); Andrea del Verrocchio’s Celebration: 1435-1488 (1990); The Symbolism of Vanitas in the Arts (1993); Medievalism and Pre-Raphaelitism (1993); Piero della Francesca’s Treatise on Painting (facsimile, 1994); Readings in Italian Mannerism (Lang, 1997); Self-Portraits of Women Painters (2000 and 2009); Neoplatonism and the Arts (2000); Essays on Women Artists: ‘The Most Excellent’ (2003); Neoplatonic Aesthetics in Literature, Music and the Visual Art (Lang, 2004); Giorgio Vasari’s Teachers: Sacred and Profane Art (Lang, 2007); Giuseppe Arcimboldo (2008); The Homes of Giorgio Vasari (Lang, 2006); Le dimore di Giorgio Vasari (Lang, 2011); and Giorgio Vasari’s Life and Lives, A Homage of Einar Rud (2011).