• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.239-244
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• 2024

This paper analyzes the art theory of Giorgio Vasari, the author of Le Vite de più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani, da Cimabue insino a' tempi nostri, which is considered the world's most important book on art history. Le Vite established a new status for artists and art works by containing facts, knowledge, and criticisms about approximately 200 Renaissance artists, as well as interesting facts that have been handed down to the world. In addition, by describing the sociocultural environment surrounding art, it established itself as a place for standardizing the language of art history. Therefore, Le Vite has a status as a compilation of art theories that describe the successive context of Renaissance art history and the major terms invented, as well as its own ontological value. Accordingly, this paper examines the formation background and each meaning of the core concepts of Renaissance art theory proposed by Vasari through Le Vite. The terms such as disegno and fantasia, and Vasari's position on paragone, which are discussed in the main text of this paper, are the result of a long debate that took place during the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Vasari's art theory leads to the universal acceptance that all arts are equal and 'sisters' with a common purpose. In this process, Vasari's Le Vite functioned as a historical testimony to the intellectualization process of art. It also exerted a strong influence on the humanistic education system of Europe and participated in the cultural function of society and citizens.