Travels with Vasari (Part 1)

A 2008 Arts, History Documentary written and presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon.
Part 2: https://www.bitchute.com/video/H2kUED3UwbRv/

On a spectacular journey through Renaissance Italy, Andrew Graham-Dixon searches for the shadowy figure who wrote one of the most important books on art, Giorgio Vasari, author of the monumental "Lives of the Artists." And looks at some dazzling works, including masterpieces of the early Renaissance by Giotto, Masaccio and Donatello.

Giorgio Vasari was the Grandaddy of all art critics, travelling Italy in the 16th century for his definitive Lives of the Artists. Scorning medieval Gothic, he praised to the vaulted ceilings the revival of classical art and architecture. It was "a time of miracles that he named 'the Renaissance'," says Andrew Graham-Dixon, as he retraces Vasari's footsteps for this captivating two-part film.

He's an enthusiastic guide, lapsing easily into Italian conversation with the custodians of galleries and chapels who allow him a private view. From Brunelleschi's Duomo in Florence to less familiar marvels - a Donatello sculpture; Masaccio frescoes - he illustrates how rapidly ideas developed. A final treat for him - and us - is a tour of the Vasari Corridor, a rarely accessed gallery that zigzags across the Florentine rooftops.