Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1571) is well known for his celebrated work on the lives of the Renaissance artists. But not many people know that Vasari was a painter and architect as well as a biographer, and that he wrote one of the most valuable treatises on the technical methods of the painters, architects, and sculptors of his time. This is the first and only English translation of this important technical material (originally published in 1550 as an introduction to Vasari's Lives of the Artists ).
Vasari, as a practical craftsman, brings to his work as unusual understanding of the processes and materials he writes about, and conveys this knowledge to the reader in a style of the pleasantest and most readable kind. In the section on architecture, he describes the methods used in constructing rustic fountains and grottos; how Michelangelo developed new uses for architectural materials; the architectural uses of enriched plaster; the Renaissance view of Ionic, Doric, Gothic, and other types of architecture; and many similar topics.
In the selection on sculpture, the reader will learn about the making of the model, completion of the statue, reliefs, bronze casting, modelled plaster work, sculpture in wood, and other processes. The final section, on painting, discusses aesthetics, perspective, foreshortening, how colors were blended, fresco painting, painting in tempera, oil painting, and much more.
Scholars and historians of art have long used this book as the most detailed and valuable sourcebook of its time. But its full, readable discussions, combined with the sense of actuality and historical presence it contains, make it also perhaps the best possible description of the Renaissance artists in the heyday of their achievement.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Prefatory Note
• Table Of Contents
• List Of Illustrations
• Introductory Essay Of Architecture
• Chapter I
• 1 The Author's object in the Discussion of Architecture
• 2 "Of the working of hard stones, and first of Porphyry"
• 3 Of Serpentine
• 4 Of Cipollaccio
• 5 "Of Breccia ('Mischio,' Conglomerate)"
• 6 Of Granite
• 7 Of Paragon (Touchstone)
• 8 Of Transparent Marbles for filling window openings
• 9 Of Statuary Marbles
• 10 Of Cipollino Marble
• 11 Of White Pisan Marble
• 12 Of Travertine
• 13 Of Slates
• 14 Of Peperino
• 15 Of the Stone from Istria
• 16 Of Pietra Serena
• 17 Of Pietra Forte
• 18 Conclusion of Chapter
• Chapter II The Description of squared Ashlar-work (lavoro di quadro) and of carved Ashlar-work (lavoro di quadro intagliato)
• 19 The work of the Mason
• Chapter III "Concerning the five Orders of Architecture, Rustic, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Composite, and also German Work"
• 20 Rusticated masonry and the Tuscan Order
• 21 The Doric Order
• 22 A constructive device to avoid charging architraves
• 23 The proportions and parts of the Doric Order
• 24 The Ionic Order
• 25 The Corinthian Order
• 26 The Composite Order
• 27 Of Terminal figures
• 28 German Work (the Gothic Style)
• Chapter IV "On forming Vaults in Concrete, to be impressed with Enrichment: when the Centerings are to be removed, and how to mix the Plaster"
• 29 The Construction of enriched Stucco Vaults
• 30 Stucco made with Marble Dust
• Chapter V "How Rustic Fountains are made with Stalactites and Incrustations from water, and how Cockle Shells and Conglomerations of vitrified stone are built into the Stucco"
• 31 Grottoes and Fountains of 'Rocaille' work
• Chapter VI On the manner of making Pavements of Tesselated Work
• 32 Mosaic pavements
• 33 "Pictorial Mosaics for Walls, etc."
• Chapter VII "How one is to recognize if a Building have good Proportions, and of what Members it should generally be composed"
• 34 The Principles of Planning and Design
• 35 An Ideal Palace
• Notes On 'introduction' To Architecture
• Porphyry And Prophyry Quarries
• "The Sassi, Della Valle, And Other Collections Of Antiques Of The Early Part Of The Sixteenth Century"
• The 'porphyry Tazza Of The Sala Rotonda Of The Vatican
• "Francesco Del Tadda, And The Revival Of Sculpture In Porphyry"
• "The Cortile Of The Belvedere In The Vatican, In The Sixteenth Century"
• Paragon (Touchstone) And Other Stones Associated With It By Vasari
• Tuscan Marble Quarries
• "The Round Temple On The Piazza S. Luigi Dei Francesi, And 'maestro Gian'"
• Rusticated Masonry
• Vasari's Opinion On Mediaeval Architecture
• Egg-Shell Mosaic
• Ideal Architecture; An Ideal Palace Of Sculpture
• Chapter I (VIII.)
• "What Sculpture is; how good works of Sculpture are made, and what qualities they must possess to be esteemed perfect"
• 36 The Nature of Sculpture
• 37 Qualities necessary for Work in the Round
• 38 Works of Sculpture should be treated with a view to their destined position
• 39 The Proportions of the Human Figure
• 40 Artists must depend on their Judgement rather than on the Measuring Rule
• Chapter II (IX.)
• 41 The small Sketch-Model in Wax of Clay
• 42 The Preparation of Wax
• 43 Polychrome Wax Effigies
• 44 The Manipulation of Wax over an Armature
• 45 The Small Model in Clay
• 46 The Full-sized Model in Clay
• 47 Drapery on the Clay Model
• 48 Transference of the Full-sized Model to the Marble Black
• 49 Danger of dispensing with the Full-sized Model
• 50 The Tools and Materials used in Marble Carving
• Chapter III (X.)
• "Of Low and Half Reliefs, the difficulty of making them an how to bring them to perfection"
• 51 The Origin of Reliefs
• 52 Pictorial or Perspective Reliefs
• 53 Low Reliefs (Bassi Rilievi)
• 54 Flat Reliefs (Stiacciati Rilievi)
• Chapter IV (XI.)
• 55 The Full-sized Model for Bronze
• 56 The Piece-Mould in Plaster
• 57 The Construction of the Core
• 58 The Piece-Mould lined with a Skin of Wax
• 59 This Skin of Wax applied over the Core
• 60 The fire-resisting Envelope applied over the Wax
• 61 The External Armature
• 62 The Vents
• 63 The Wax melted out
• 64 The Mould in the Casting-pit
• 65 The Composition of the Bronze
• 66 Making up Imperfections
• 67 A simpler Method of Casting small Figures and Reliefs
• 68 Chasing the Cast and Colouring the Bronze
• 69 Modern Tours de Force in small Castings
• Chapter V (XII.)
• Concerning Steel Dies for making Medals of bronze or other metals and how the latter are formed from these metals
• 80 On Colouring
• Chapter V (XIX.)
• 81 The Fresco process
• Chapter VI (XX.)
• "Of Painting in Tempera, or with egg, on Panel or Canvas, and how it is employed on the wall which is dry"
• 82 Painting in Tempera
• Chapter VII (XXI.)
• Of Painting in Oil on Panel or Canvas
• 83 "Oil Painting, its Discovery and Early History"
• 84 How to Prime the Panel or Canvas
• 85 "Drawing, by transfer or directly"
• Chapter VIII (XXII.)
• Of Painting in Oil on a Wall which is dry
• 86 Mural Painting in Oil
• 87 Vasari's own Method
• Chapter IX (XXIII.)
• 88 Painting on Canvas
• Chapter X (XXIV.)
• "Of painting in Oil on Stone, and what stones are good for the purpose"
• 89 Oil painting on Stone
• Chapter XI (XXV.)
• "Of Painting on the wall in Monochrome with various earths: how objects in bronze are imitated: and of groups for Triumphal Arches or festal structures, done with powdered earths mixed with size, which process is called Gouache and Tempera"
• 90 Imitative Paintings for Decorations
• Chapter XII (XXVI.)
• Of the Sgraffiti for house decoration which withstand water; that which is used in their production; and how Grotesques are worked on the wall
• 91 Sgraffito-work
• 92 "Grotesque, or Fanciful Devices, painted or modelled on Walls"
• Chapter XIII (XXVII.)
• How Grotesques are worked on the Stucco
• Chapter XIV (XVIII.)
• "Of the manner of applying Gold on a Bolus, or with a Mordant, and other methods"
• 93 Methods of Gilding
• Chapter XV (XXIX.)
• Of Glass Mosaic and how it is recognized as good and praise-worthy
• 94 Glass Mosaics
• 95 The Preparation of the Mosaic Cubes
• 96 The Fixing of the Mosaic Cubes
• Chapter XVI (XXX.)
• Concerning the Compositions and Figures made in Inlaid Work on Pavements in imitation of objects in Monochrome
• 97 Pavements in Marble Mosaic and Monochrome
• 98 Pavements in Variegated Tiles
• 99 Pavements in Breccia Marble
• Chapter XVII (XXXI.)
• "Of Mosaic in Wood, that is, of Tarsia; and of the Compositions that are made in Tinted Woods, fitted together after the manner of a picture"
• 100 Inlays in Wood
• Chapter XVIII (XXXII.)
• On Painting Glass Windows and how they are put together with Leads and supported with Irons so as not to interfere with the view of the figures
• 101 "Stained Glass Windows, their Origin and History"
• 102 The Technique of the Stained Glass Window
• Chapter XIX (XXXIII.)
• "Of Niello, and how by this process we have Copper Prints; and how Silver is engraved to make Enamels over Bas-relief, and in like manner how Gold and Silver Plate is chased"
• 103 Niello Work
• 104 The Origin of Engraving
• 105 Enamels over Reliefs
• Chapter XX (XXXIV.)
• "Of Tausia, that is, work called Damascening"
• 106 Metal Inlays
• Chapter XXI (XXXV.)
• "Of Wood Engraving and the method of executing it and concerning its first Inventor: how Sheets which appear to be drawn by hand and exhibit Lights and Half-tones and Shades, are produced with three Blocks of Wood"
• 107 Chiaroscuro Wood Engravings
• 108 Dependence on Design of the Decorative Arts
• Notes On 'introduction' To Painting
• Fresco Painting
• Tempera Painting
• Oil Painting
• Enriched Façades
• Stucco 'grotesques'
• "Tarsia Work, Or Wood Inlays"
• The Stained Glass Window
• Vasari's Description Of Enamel Work
• Index

Author notes provided by Syndetics

During his travels, Vasari took notes on various artists and paintings he encountered which resulted in his book, The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptures. He also wrote biographies of Italian Renaissance artists. He died on June 27, 1574.

(Bowker Author Biography)