Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 02 (of 10) Berna to Michelozzo Michelozzi — Story, Setting & Ideas

Vasari’s Descriptive Precision

In the Ghiberti entry, Vasari moves from general admiration to specific technical observation. He notes how the landscape in the Joshua panel is “ever diminished and made lower with great judgment, from the first figures to the mountains, from the mountains to the city, and from the city to the distant part of the landscape, in very low relief.” This attention to gradation of relief is not mere praise; it is a lesson in sculptural perspective. Vasari also highlights the “diverse attitudes” of figures in the Moses scene, where the people are “terrified by the thunder, lightning, and earthquakes.” His word choice—terrified, diverse attitudes, very great vivacity—emphasizes emotional expression as a criterion of artistic success.

Narrative as a Sequence of Effects

Vasari structures his description of Ghiberti’s ten panels as a progressive narrative of artistic achievement. Each panel is introduced with a temporal marker: “in the sixth square,” “next,” “it now remained.” This sequential framing mirrors the biblical stories themselves, but also suggests a developmental arc in Ghiberti’s skill. The Joseph panel is singled out as “the most noble, the most difficult, and the most beautiful of all his works” because of its “many effects and the great variety of incidents.” Vasari’s method is to catalog these effects—the round temple, the loading of corn, the hiding of the cup—as evidence of the artist’s compositional range. The reader is left to infer that Vasari values complexity and narrative clarity equally.

The Role of the Translator’s Diction

Gaston du C. De Vere’s 1912 translation shapes how Vasari’s judgments land. Phrases like “emboldened by his study of the art” and “he tried his genius on matters more complicated and difficult” carry a Victorian formality that distances the reader from the Renaissance workshop. Yet De Vere also preserves Vasari’s concrete details: “some marvellous asses” and “the slaying of the giant Goliath by David, who is cutting off his head in a proud and boyish attitude.” The word boyish is a telling choice—it humanizes David and aligns with Vasari’s interest in lifelike attitudes. The translation’s rhythm, with its long sentences and periodic structure, mirrors Vasari’s own accumulation of examples.

Recurring Motifs: Perspective and Relief

Across the Ghiberti excerpt, Vasari returns to two technical terms: perspective and relief. The round temple is “drawn in perspective with great mastery”; the buildings in the Queen of Sheba scene are “drawn in perspective.” Relief is described in four degrees: “almost in the round, some in half-relief, some in low-relief, and some in the lowest.” This taxonomy is not unique to Ghiberti—Vasari applies similar language to other sculptors in this volume—but here it is used to argue for Ghiberti’s supremacy. The phrase “with great judgment” ties technical skill to intellectual discernment. Vasari’s vocabulary thus functions as a critical framework, elevating craftsmanship to an intellectual pursuit.

Readers approaching this volume should attend to Vasari’s descriptive habits: his catalog of effects, his grading of relief, and his preference for narrative clarity. The Ghiberti entry is a microcosm of his method, but similar patterns appear in the lives of Donatello, Brunelleschi, and others. By noticing how Vasari selects and arranges details, one can trace the criteria that shaped Renaissance art criticism.

Reading Vasari’s careful description of Ghiberti’s relief, how he maps light and shadow across bronze, I found myself drifting to an old habit of tracing perspective lines in the margins. His words make space tangible, yet I kept thinking of that quiet manual on geometric method, Rules and Examples of Perspective proper for Painters and Architects, etc. In English and Latin: Containing a most easie and expeditious method to delineate in — Background and Themes, as if both were whispering the same patient secret about seeing.