Arezzo Celebrates Giorgio Vasari with City-Wide Program for 450th Death Anniversary
From May 2024 to February 2025, the Tuscan city of Arezzo will host a cultural program titled 'Arezzo. La città di Vasari' to commemorate the 450th anniversary of Giorgio Vasari's death (June 27, 1574). The initiative, promoted by the Comune di Arezzo, Fondazione CR Firenze, and Fondazione Guido D'Arezzo, connects museums, libraries, and archives across the city. The centerpiece is the exhibition 'Giorgio Vasari. Il teatro delle Virtù' curated by Cristina Acidini with Alessandra Baroni at the Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in early 2025, featuring works from international collections and the Chimera bronze from the Museo archeologico di Firenze. Other highlights include shows at the Biblioteca Comunale on Vasari as writer, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale on ancient Arezzo ceramics, and Casa Vasari on the artist-intellectual. The program also includes itineraries to Castiglion Fiorentino, Cortona, Monte San Savino, and Camaldoli, plus concerts, guided tours, and literary events.
Key facts
- Giorgio Vasari died on June 27, 1574 in Florence.
- He served as court architect to Cosimo I de' Medici, renovating Palazzo Vecchio and designing the Uffizi complex and the Corridoio Vasariano.
- The fresco decoration of the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore was left incomplete, only one-third finished at his death.
- Vasari was born in Arezzo in 1511 into a merchant family and trained in the workshop of Andrea del Sarto.
- He authored 'Le Vite' (1550), considered the first modern art history work.
- The program 'Arezzo. La città di Vasari' runs from May 2024 to February 2025.
- The exhibition 'Giorgio Vasari. Il teatro delle Virtù' is curated by Cristina Acidini with Alessandra Baroni.
- The Chimera bronze, discovered in 1535 near Arezzo, will be loaned from the Museo archeologico di Firenze.
Entities
Artists
- Giorgio Vasari
- Andrea del Sarto
- Cristina Acidini
- Alessandra Baroni
- Cosimo I de' Medici
- Alessandro Farnese
- Pierio Valeriano
- Giorgio di Lazzaro Taldi da Cortona
Institutions
- Comune di Arezzo
- Fondazione CR Firenze
- Fondazione Guido D'Arezzo
- Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
- Biblioteca Città di Arezzo
- Casa Museo Ivan Bruschi
- Fraternita dei Laici
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale 'Gaio Cilnio Mecenate'
- Museo Nazionale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna
- Museo di Casa Vasari
- Museo diocesano di Arte sacra
- Archivio di Stato
- Museo Orodautore
- Museo archeologico di Firenze
- Palazzo Vecchio
- Uffizi
- Corridoio Vasariano
- Santa Maria del Fiore
- Palazzo della Cancelleria
Locations
- Arezzo
- Italy
- Florence
- Rome
- Cortona
- Castiglion Fiorentino
- Monte San Savino
- Camaldoli
- Borgo Santa Croce
- Piazza Grande
- Casa Vasari
- badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla
- chiesa della Santissima Annunziata
- chiesa della SS. Trinità
- baluardo di San Lorentino