Giorgio Vasari and Mannerist Architecture: a Marriage of Beauty and Function in Urban Spaces
Journal of Literature and Art Studies, October 2016, Vol. 6, No. 10, 1159-1180 doi: 10.17265/2159-5836/2016.10.007 D DAVID PUBLISHING Giorgio Vasari and Mannerist Architecture: A Marriage of Beauty and Function in Urban Spaces Liana De Girolami Cheney SIELAE, Universidad de Coruña, Coruña, Spain The first part of this essay deals with Giorgio Vasari’s conception of architecture in sixteenth-century Italy, and the second part examines Vasari’s practical application of one of his constructions, the loggia (open gallery or arcade) or corridoio (corridor). The essay also discusses the merits of Vasari’s open gallery (loggia) as a vernacular architectural construct with egalitarian functions and Vasari’s principles of architecture (design, rule, order, and proportion) and beauty (delight and necessity) for the formulation of the theory of art in Mannerism, a sixteenth-century style of art. Keywords: mannerism, fine arts, loggia (open gallery), architectural principles, theory of art, design, beauty, necessity and functionality Chi non ha disegno e grande invenzione da sé, sarà sempre povero di grazia, di perfezione e di giudizio ne’ componimenti grandi d’architettura. [One that lacks design and great invention [in his art] will always have meager architectural constructions lacking beauty, perfection, and judgment.] —Giorgio Vasari Vite (1550/1568)1 Introduction The renowned Mannerist painter, architect, and writer of Florence, Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574, see Figure 1), considered architecture one of the most important aspects of the fine arts or the sister arts (architecture, painting, and sculpture).2 In the first Florentine publication of the Vite with La Torrentina in 1550, Vasari’s original title lists architecture before the other arts: Le vite de più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori Italiani da Cimabue insino a’ tempi nostri.
[Show full text]