Vasari and portraiture: function, aesthetics and propaganda.

The article explores the context and origin of empiricism in Giorgio Vasari's book "Lives of the Painters Sculptors and Architects," importance of portraiture within the purpose of the book, and aesthetic schema. Topics discussed include aim of the book to protect artists from being forgotten and its function as a guide to moral instruction, interpretation of portraits within neoplatonist aesthetics, and importance of virtue as the conceptual underpinning for nobility and for political power.