Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari, writer, painter and "solemn master of all that belongs to the practice and language of the arts", was born in Arezzo (Tuscany). In 1550 he published a book entlited "The lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects" that was for a long time the main source of consultation for dates, facts and works concerning Italian artists who had lived in the previous centuries. Modern historiography, the result of research and examination for comparison carried out on documents of the time, has in part undermined its attendability but it nevertheless remains as a testimony that had a great effect in the course of time. Going back to Vasari's affirmation regarding the birthdate of Giotto he,infact, writes in his "Lives" : "The birth of so great a man was, in the year 1276, in the countryside near Florence, fourteen miles from the town, in the village of Vespignano. His father, named Bondone, was a peasant and a simple-hearted person".