Giorgio Vasari’s Renaissance masterpiece of art history, LIVES OF THE MOST EXCELLENT PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, and ARCHITECTS, was first published in 1568. Vasari’s history tells how Italian artists, starting with Cimabue and culminating with Michelangelo, reconstructed the lost art of ancient Rome and Greece, rediscovering the principles of beauty. Vasari gives us an image of the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. He breaks down this time period into three major parts: the 14th century was a period of infancy (and the works of Giotto), the 15th century a period of adolescence (and the works of Masaccio), and the 16th century as a period of maturity (and the works of da Vinci). It is these artists that light the way out of the darkness of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. Translated by Gaston Du C. De Vere. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by Philip Jacks.