The Life of Raphael

A new translation of Giorgio Vasari’s Life of Raphael, fully illustrated, that presents Vasari’s appealing narrative with new precision.

Giorgio Vasari’s The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects, written in 1550 and 1568, is a classic text of cultural history. This monumental assembly of artists’ lives from Giotto to Michelangelo paints a vivid picture of the progression of art in the hands of individual masters.

This illustrated stand-alone edition of Vasari’s Life of Raphael offers a new translation of this rich and remarkable life, elegantly rendering Vasari’s literary text in modern terms. A work of authoritative skill and precision, this new translation preserves Vasari’s exciting narrative, alongside beautifully reproduced color illustrations. Editors Paul Joannides and Rick Scorza bring together the original and expanded Italian editions from 1550 and 1568 with succinct commentary drawing upon their expert knowledge of Raphael’s career. This fascinating and accessible read is published in the five hundredth anniversary year of Raphael’s death.

80 color illustrations

Paul Joannides is an emeritus professor of art history at the University of Cambridge and is a specialist in the painting, sculpture, drawing, and architecture of the Italian Renaissance. His publications include The Drawings of Raphael; Masaccio and Masolino: A Complete Catalogue; Titian to 1518: The Assumption of Genius; with Tom Henry, Late Raphael; and with Rick Scorza, The Life of Raphael.

Rick Scorza is an Italian-born writer and lecturer on the Renaissance, based in London. He was the inaugural senior research fellow at the Drawing Institute of the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, and was their adjunct scholar. He is currently president of the British Museum’s British Art Medal Society.