Vasari

American  

[vuh-zahr-ee, -sahr-ee, vah-zah-ree] / vəˈzɑr i, -ˈsɑr i, vɑˈzɑ ri /

noun

1. Giorgio 1511–74, Italian painter, architect, and art historian.

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Vasari British  

/ vaˈzaːri, vəˈsɑːrɪ /

noun

1. Giorgio (ˈdʒordʒo). 1511–74, Italian architect, painter, and art historian, noted for his Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors (1550; 1568), a principal source for the history of Italian Renaissance art

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Example Sentences

In his description of Giotto’s naturalistic painting of the 14th century, Vasari hailed a “rebirth” of the arts, beginning then and carrying into the age of his own Medici patrons.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

Vasari, who is regarded as the first art historian, was born in the central region of Tuscany, where he served the Italian banking family and political dynasty the Medici, in Florence.

From Reuters • Jun. 29, 2023

It was instantly hailed as a masterpiece, with Renaissance artist Giorgio Vasari saying the David "surpassed" any statue that had ever existed before.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2023

When he saw Vasari watching, “Michelangelo let the lantern drop from his hand, leaving them in the dark,” to prevent Vasari from seeing it.

From New York Times • Sep. 27, 2021

Neither Condivi nor Vasari, Michelangelo’s biographers who knew him personally mention the master carving this little angel; they mention only the angel carved for the altar in Siena.

From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg