of the ideas for military devices were impractical, such as
the plan for a cart driven by windmills geared to its
wheels, but the book was widely influential, appearing in
both Italian (1483) and French (1532) versions.
van Eyck, Hubert and Jan See EYCK, HUBERT VAN AND
JAN VAN
Varchi, Benedetto (1503–1565) Italian scholar and critic
Varchi was born and lived most of his life in Florence, but
was influenced in his critical theories by a spell as a stu-
dent at Padua, where he was imbued with the prevailing
Aristotelianism. Believing in the classical ideal of republi-
canism, he supported the exiling of the MEDICIrulers of
Florence in 1527, and was himself exiled on the restora-
tion of the Medici in 1530. Despite taking part in Piero
Strozzi’s abortive expedition against the Medici (1537), he
was recalled in 1543 to the service of Duke COSIMO I DE’
MEDICIand provided with a pension to write his Storia
fiorentina, a history of Florence from 1527 to 1538; no-
table for its careful documentation, the 16-book history
was eventually published in 1721. Varchi also wrote
poems (Sonnetti, 1555–57), plays, and translations from
classical authors. Among his critical works, L’Ercolano
(1560) supports the use of the vernacular in literature.
Varthema, Ludovico (before 1470–1517) Italian traveler
Not much is known of his life apart from the autobio-
graphical data in his Itinerario (1511). Motivated appar-
ently by mere curiosity and a spirit of adventure, he set
out via Egypt and Syria before visiting Mecca disguised as
a Mameluke pilgrim. After various adventures he went on
to Persia, India, Sri Lanka and as far east as Borneo, Java,
and the Moluccas, before getting a passage back to Europe
in a Portuguese vessel via the Cape of Good Hope. He gave
public lectures in Venice in 1508 on his experiences, and
his book became a 16th-century bestseller, with transla-
tions into Latin, German, Spanish, Flemish, and English.
Despite some tall stories, the Itinerario gives valuable geo-
graphical and ethnographical insights into the East before
the era of sustained contact with Europeans.
Vasari, Giorgio (1511–1574) Italian painter, architect,
and art historian
The son of a potter at Arezzo, Vasari came as a boy to the
notice of Cardinal Silvio Passerini, who sent him to Flo-
rence to be educated with the young Ippolito and Ales-
sandro de’ Medici. Patronage by the MEDICIcontinued
throughout his career. They and other prominent benefac-
tors encouraged his prolific output, but his posthumous
artistic reputation has not remained as high as it was
among his contemporaries. Examples of his work as a
painter (and decorator) are the posthumous portrait of
Lorenzo the Magnificent and decorations in various parts
of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and in the Sala Regia in
the Vatican. He was the architect of the UFFIZIin Florence
and the modernized Palazzo dei Cavalieri (1562) in Pisa.
It was as the first art historian, the author of Vite ...
(Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Archi-
tects; 1550, revised 1568), that Vasari has exercised the
most profound influence. The biographies were carefully
researched and included coverage of technical matters and
critical judgments. The book also introduced the idea of a
rebirth, or renaissance, of painting and analysed its devel-
opment in three anthropomorphic stages corresponding
to childhood (c. 1250), youth (c. 1400–c. 1500), and ma-
turity (to the death of MICHELANGELO, 1564), citing repre-
sentative artists for each stage: respectively (GIOTTO;
MASACCIO; LEONARDO, RAPHAEL, and Michelangelo). This
conception of the Renaissance of art and its progressive
development has influenced critical judgments and taste
up to the present.
The massive compilation of Vasari’s Vite was first
translated into English in its entirety by Mrs J. Foster be-
tween 1850 and 1885. An abridged version of her text ap-
peared in 1960, and it has also been published in a
two-volume format (New York, 1967). A revised edition of
A. B. Hinds’s translation by William Gaunt has appeared in
four volumes (London, 1980). An illustrated selection of
lives entitled Artists of the Renaissance (London, 1978) was
made by George Bull, who also translated the extracts in
the Penguin Classics volume (Harmondsworth, 1965). A
recent translation is that by Julia and Peter Bondanella for
Oxford University Press (1998).
Further reading: T. S. R. Boase, Giorgio Vasari: The
Man and the Book (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1979; repr. 1987); Philip Jacks (ed.), Vasari’s Flo-
rence: Artists and Literati at the Medicean Court (Cam-
bridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Patricia
Lee Rubin, Giorgio Vasari: Art and History (New Haven,
Conn.: Yale University Press, 1995); Leon Satkowski,
Giorgio Vasari, Architect and Courtier (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1993).Vasconcelos, Jorge Ferreira de (c. 1515–c. 1563)
Portuguese playwright and novelist
His birthplace is unknown and little else is known of his
early life, though his familiarity with Coimbra and his ob-
vious learning suggest that he may have studied there. He
was an attendant of Prince Edward at the court of King
John III until 1540 and thereafter became secretary of the
treasury and secretary of the India House. His three prose
comedies are perhaps better classified as dramatic dia-
logues intended for reading, in the tradition of LA CE-
LESTINA, rather than as plays for stage performance.
Eufrosina (between 1537 and 1543), in which youthful
love happily ends in marriage, is set in the academic city
of Coimbra and is obviously indebted to Celestina. Ulísipo
(a learned form of “Lisbon”; c. 1554) attacks the material-
ism of the Lisbon middle class. Aulegrafia (c. 1555) is con-44884 4 vvaann EEyycckk,, HHuubbeerrtt aanndd JJaann