Giorgio Vasari

“ But, by the masters above named, architecture was, without doubt, greatly ameliorated, and the art made considerable progress under their influence, since they brought the various parts to more correct proportion, and not only erected their buildings in a manner which imparted strength and durability, but also added the grace of ornament to certain parts of them. It is, indeed, true that their decorations were complicated, confused, and very far from perfection, so that they could scarcely be said to contribute in any great measure to the beauty of the fabric. ”

“ Tracts of country, trees, shrubs, flowers, the clouds, the air, and other natural objects, were depicted, with some resemblance to the realities represented, insomuch that we may boldly affirm, that these arts had not only become ennobled, but had attained to that flower of youth from which the fruit afterwards to follow might reasonably be looked for, and hope entertained that they would shortly reach the perfection of their existence. ”

“ Moved by these considerations, I determined, having undertaken to write the history of the noblest masters in our arts, to pursue the method observed by these distinguished writers, so far as my powers would permit; imitating these ingenious men, and desiring, above all things, to honour the arts, and those who labour in them. I have endeavoured, not only to relate what has been done, but to set forth and distinguish the better from the good, and the best from the better, the most distinguished from the less prominent qualities and works, of those who belong to our vocation. ”

“ What is here said of architecture, may, with equal propriety be affirmed of painting and sculpture, in both of which are still to be seen many extraordinary works executed by the masters of the second period, as that of Masaccio in the church of the Carmine, for example, where the artist has depicted a naked figure shivering with the cold, besides many spirited and life-like forms, in other pictures. But, speaking generally, the second period did not attain to the perfection exhibited by the third, and of which we propose to speak in due time. ”

“ With respect to painting and sculpture more especially, their fate, in older times, must have been so exactly alike, that we have only to make a certain change in the names, when the same facts might be related of each. For if the writers who lived near to those times, and who could see and judge of their works, be worthy of credit, the statues of Canacus were stiff, hard, without life or movement of any kind, and therefore very unlike the reality. ”

“ And if, in certain portions of the works executed during that period,—in the cornices, for example, in the light carving of foliage, and delicate finish of other ornaments,— we fail to perceive the exquisite refinement and grace exhibited in later times, as will be seen in the Third Part of my book, we are yet bound to admit that they are, to a certain extent, good and beautiful, although we may not accord to them the praise due to those who afterwards displayed a perfection of lightness, richness, grace, and refinement, equalled only by the best architects of antiquity. ”

“ Thus the masters constantly endeavoured to reproduce what they beheld in Nature, and no more; their works became, consequently, more carefully considered and better understood. This gave them courage to impose rules of perspective, and to carry the foreshortenings precisely to the point which gives an exact imitation of the relief apparent in Nature and the real form. ”

“ We do not, then, consider the second period perfect; for we have seen later times produce works superior, and may therefore reasonably affirm that something was still wanting. Certain individual works then executed are indeed so admirable, that nothing better has been accomplished, even to our own times, nor perhaps will be in times to come—as, for example, the lantern of the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore ”

“ Reflecting attentively within myself on all these things, I conclude that it is the peculiar nature, and distinctive characteristic of these arts, that, rising from mean beginnings, they should proceed to elevate themselves, by gradual effort, and should finally attain to the summit of perfection ”

“ And now that we have raised these three arts, so to speak, from their cradle, and have conducted them through their childhood, we come to the second period, in which they will be seen to have infinitely improved at all points: the compositions comprise more figures; the accessories and ornaments are richer, and more abundant; the drawing is more correct, and approaches more closely to the truth of nature; and, even where no great facility or practice is displayed, the works yet evince much thought and care ”

“ It is an indubitable fact, that distinction in the arts is attained by one man through his diligent practice; by another, from his profound study; a third seeks it in imitation; a fourth, by the acquirement of knowledge in the sciences, which all offer aid to the arts ”

“ In Stefano the Ape [5] (Stefano Schimmia) , and in Tommaso his son, we see important ameliorations of the practice in design, as well as in the general treatment and harmony of colouring. By these masters the study of perspective, also, was promoted, to the great benefit of art. They displayed some fertility of invention, with softness and harmony of colouring, but adhered closely to the manner of Giotto. ”

“ The credit of having effected this is certainly due to the third period only; respecting which it appears to me that we may safely affirm the arts to have effected all that it is permitted to the imitation of nature to perform, and to have reached such a point, that we have now more cause for apprehension lest they should again sink into depression, than ground for hope that they will ever attain to a higher degree of perfection. ”

“ In the third degree, there followed Policletus, with the other masters so highly celebrated, and by whom, as is affirmed—and we are bound to believe—the art was carried to its entire perfection. A similar progress must have been perceived in painting also. Writers declare, and it is reasonable to suppose that they do so on just grounds, that the works of those artists who painted with one colour only, and from that circumstance were called Monochromatists, did not display a very high degree of perfection. ”

“ Every beginning, moreover, however insignificant and humble in itself, is always to be accounted worthy of no small praise.
Nor had painting much better fortune during those times; but the devotion of the people called it more frequently into use, and it had more artists employed ”

“ The method adopted by the masters of the second period was so much more efficient, their treatment so much more natural and graceful, their drawing so much more accurate, their proportions so much more correct, that their statues began to assume the appearance of living men, and were no longer lifeless images of stone, as were those of the earlier day. Of this there will be found proof in the part we are now about to treat, wherein the works of the Sienese, Jacopo della Quercia, will be remarked as possessing more life and grace, with more correct design, and more careful finish ”

“ Similar progress was made at the same time in painting, which the excellent and admirable Masaccio delivered entirely from the manner of Giotto, as regards the heads, the carnations, the draperies, buildings, and colouring; he also restored the practice of foreshortening, and brought to light that modern manner which, adopted in his own time, has been followed by all artists, and is pursued by our own, even to this day; gradually receiving the addition of a better grace, more fertile invention, and richer ornament ”

“ In the First Part of these Lives I have spoken of the nobility and antiquity of these our arts, as at that point of our work was desirable, omitting many remarks by Pliny, and other writers, of which I might have availed myself, if I had not preferred—perhaps in opposition to the opinion of many readers—rather to permit that each should remain free to seek the ideas of others in their original sources. ”

“ For the present we have to occupy ourselves with the second, wherein—to speak first of the sculptors—the art made so decided an improvement on the manner of the first, as to leave but little remaining for the third to accomplish. ”

“ But, whoever will consider the character of the times in which these masters laboured, the dearth of artists, with the difficulty of obtaining any assistance of value, will admit— not only that they are beautiful, as I have said—but even that they are wonderful ”