Barbarian art, pale faces and judgemental jerks

- December 13, 2015

Duomo, Milan

No matter if you have ever heard about Giorgio Vasari your vision on art and history is probably strongly infuenced by this Florentine man born more than 500 years ago in Arezzo. I have found it very amusing to put his name right next to the picture of the Milan Duomo. If you wonder why...continue reading ;)

Giorgio Vasari was an architect and painter working for Medici family, but above all he was the first art historian. His work titled: "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects" had an enormous impact not only on the artists and those particulary interested in art but for many others. Thanks to him, we use the word "gallery" in reference to the place where we go to see works of art. He was the man who first used the term "Renaissance" in print, as an indication of the new era - the era where art is being born again after dark centuries of the Middle Ages. Last but not least, he also made up the term "Gothic" to describe the style in art and achitecture that we use till today.

Vasari was a workaholic, quite average painter, great architect (he design the Vasari Corridor, three kilometers long corridor that leads from Uffizzi to Palazzo Pitti, over the Arno river) and the man charismatic enough to convince many people to his personal idea of history of art and architecture.

Long story short, he believed the classical art with its passion for harmony and perfectionism when it comes to proportions is the REAL art and anything that came after was simply barbaric and primitive. That is how the word "gothic" was born, as to decribe something assosiated with the barbaric culture of the German tribes. And so the idea of the Renaissance, the re-birth of classical style in opposite to the darkness and reeks of Middle Ages was born in order to save the world and make it go "the right direction" again.

I decided to write this post about Vasari becuase I quite like the guy; his book full of not necessarily true anecdotes concerning the great artist such as Leonardo, Giotto or Michelangelo is really a good one. But I did it also to show you that even the opinions made by "important people" and all sorts of "specialist" are not always accurate. According to Vasari ideas, the Duomo of Milan, one of the greatest examples of ghotic style (and personally my favourite building of all I have seen so far) is simply barbaric and crude. Gargoyles, pinnacles and traceries means nothing in challenge with the only correct harmonious lines and symmetry of Ancient times.

Personaly I don't agree with that. Mainly beacuse I am a fan of ghotic style, both in architecture and painting (yes, the lack of perspective and pale faces are what I like the most :P). Moreover I really don't like this kind of judgemental attidute, which accepts and affirms only thing which are well known and look-alike while demonizes everything that is different, more complicated and a bit harsh.

So please, enjoy this few photos of the Duomo, my beloved cathedral that makes me equally speachless and loquacious each time I see it. And if you wanna learn more about Vasari I recommend you a BBC program "Travels with Vasari" with my favorite Andrew Graham-Dixon!