These biographies of the great quattrocento artists have long been considered among the most important of contemporary sources on Italian Renaissance art. Vasari, who invented the term "Renaissance," was the first to outline the influential theory of Renaissance art that traces a progression through Giotto, Brunelleschi, and finally the titanic figures of Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael.

This new translation, specially commissioned for the Oxford World's Classics series, contains thirty-six of the most important lives. Lives of the Artists is an invaluable classic to add to your collection.