Session	Dates	Price
Fall Semester 2009 - Palazzo Rucellai - Architecture	Late August - Mid December 2009	TBA
Fall Semester 2009 - Palazzo Rucellai - Liberal Arts	Late August - Mid December 2009	TBA
Academic Year 2009-2010 - Palazzo Rucellai - Liberal Arts	Late August 2009 - Early May 2010	TBA

Full Description

Course Description

When the painter and architect Giorgio Vasari published the first edition of his Lives of the Artists in Florence in 1550, he created a new genre of writing. Vasari exalted artists through the description of their works and accomplishments, and in so doing gave us the earliest systematic treatment of art history. Vasari’s narrative ranged over Italian art from the 13th century to the work of artists who had died before the book’s completion at mid-16th century; he then expanded the biographies to cover artists still living when the second edition was published in 1568. Despite the apparent goal of universality, in fact Vasari gave pride of place to his fellow artists from Tuscany, and constructed a history of Renaissance art that was driven by the development of art in Florence.

This course will be based on a concentrated study of Vasari’s text, including his theoretical and historical statements (the Prefaces), and the biographies that build a historical narrative through the works of such artists as Giotto, Brunelleschi, and Donatello, followed by their legacy as adapted and furthered by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. A special consideration of how Vasari made Raphael of Urbino into an honorary Florentine will be the final focus of the course..

The course will be structured so that meetings will alternate between studying the texts and going on site to study the works discussed in the literature. Therefore, the acquisition of knowledge of the text of Vasari’s Lives, the ability to discuss his ideas in their historical and theoretical framework, and knowledge of the works of art created by the artists whose biographies are studied will be the goals of the course.

Course descriptions may be subject to occasional minor modifications at the discretion of the instructor.

Textbooks

During orientation at the Institute, students will receive a list of textbooks they are required to purchase. Students should not purchase any texts before orientation.