Vasari (Giorgio) 1511-1574
Vasari, who was born at Arezzo, was a pupil of Michelangelo and Andrea del Sarto. Though he considered himself a better painter than architect, it is chiefly as the latter that he interests the modern student. He built the court of the Uffizi in Florence and planned the Villa di Papa Giulio in Rome; painted the ceiling of the great hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and carved the figure of Architecture on the tomb of Michelangelo in Santa Croce. He is, however, chiefly famous for his lives of the Italian painters and architects.