SELECTIONS FROM THE LIVES OF THE ARTISTS Cimabue, Giotto, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Dürer, Michelangelo,et al.

Giorgio Vasari (1511-74) was born during one of the greatest eras of art, and five centuries later his work gives readers a contemporary window on the Renaissance. In these excerpts from his massive work, LIVES OF THE PAINTERS, SCULPTORS AND ARCHITECTS, Vasari not only describes the artists' major works, but shares personal reflections about the men themselves. Narrator Neville Jason, who also has chosen and abridged the selections, is skillful with the Italian and clearly shares Vasari's ear for entertaining anecdotes. This is most obvious in the substantial sections on Brunelleschi and Michelangelo, although some of the selections--there are 40 in all, some only five or six minutes--are too brief to be engaging. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 03]