On Hate and Love. Giorgio Vasari and the Artists in Bologna

As is evident from some passages from the “Lives”, the relationship between Giorgio Vasari and the Bolognese artists was quite troublesome. He incidentally speaks about them by saying that they have “the head full of arrogance and smoke”. And talking about Michelangelo’s life he even points out that after only one year he left Bologna because he “wasted time there”.

Vasari generally reproaches Bolognese artists for their lack of knowledge about ancient classical art as source of inspiration for their works. Nonetheless his harsh criticism is destined to soften throughout the years: he for example says that if Correggio had gone away from Emilia to settle in Rome, he probably would have worked miracles. And coming to the following generation of artists, he even says words of praise about their works.

Curated by Maria Faietti and Michele Grasso, the exhibition “On Hate and Love. Giorgio Vasari and the Artists in Bologna” explores in detail such a problematic and ambiguous relationship between Vasari and the painters from Bologna in order to emphasize the emergence of new unexpected and surprising aspects. The accurate selection of drawings and paintings is on view in the Sala Edoardo Detti of the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi from 9th October to 2nd December 2018.     

“The exhibition - says Director Eike Schmidt - displays the refined result of many years of studies about drawings, paintings and Vasari’s texts and works, which reveal original and so far unknown critical discoveries. It remarks the mission of the Uffizi Galleries as a high-level educational institution”.