Giorgio, a painter and biographer, was born at Arezzo in 1512. His father Antonio gave him the first instructions in drawing; but at the age of twelve he was taken by Cardinal Passerini to Florence, where his education in art was further carried on by Michael Angelo and others. After his father's death in 1528, he worked for a time as a goldsmith in order to assist his family; but the necessity for this having been removed by the kindness of an uncle, he resumed the work of an artist. Cardinal Ippolito de Medici took him into his service, and enabled him to complete his studies at Rome under the best masters, and afterwards introduced him to Pope Clement VII. Finally Vasari settled at Florence, where he enjoyed the favour and patronage of the powerful Medici family, and attained a high reputation as a painter and architect. He painted a very large number of works, but few of them are of first-rate merit; and he is now better known as the author of the Lives of the most eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, than as an artist. This great work is undoubtedly one of the best of its kind, although it is not free from inaccuracies and partial judgments. It has been frequently reprinted; and an English translation by Mrs J. Foster has been published in 5 volumes by Bolin, London, 1852. Vasari has added to the work a sketch of his own life up to his 55th year. He died at Florence in 1574, and was buried at Arezzo.