Vasari was born in Arezzo and died in Florence. He was a painter and architect, working in the Mannerist style, but chiefly famous for his historical and biographical writings. His architectural work included the Uffizi in Florence, for Cosimo di Medici and the monastery palace of Cavalieri di San Stefano in Pisa. The first edition of his book on The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters and Sculptors was published in 1550 and dedicated to Cosimo di Medici. Together with the second edition, it provides a great deal of information and comment. Vasari's general view was that medieval art was a depressing consequence of the Dark Ages but that Renaissance art had returned to the glories of the classical age. All modern art historians walk in his steps.
