Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Entertainment
12
Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
OPERA, BALLET
The curtain rises on opera, classical concerts and ballet at this lovely theatre, host to the
summertime festival Maggio Musicale Fiorentina.
(
055 28 72 22;
www.maggiofiorentino.com
;
Corso Italia 16)
Understand
Giorgio Vasari: Pro or Con?
Giorgio Vasari (1511-74) takes flack from art historians: in a drive to 'purify' art, he painted over medieval fres-
coes in churches and public buildings, including the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. He's even said to have
painted over unfinished works by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in the Palazzo Vecchio to make way for
his bombastic, floor-to-ceiling fresco cycle glorifying Duke Cosimo I.
Yet Vasari's pioneering series of biographies,
Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori
(Lives
of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects) remain the basic text of Renaissance art studies.
As an architect, Vasari's most accommplished work was the elegant loggia of the Uffizi Gallery and the
Cor-
ridoio Vasariano
, an enclosed, elevated corridor running between the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace that is named in
his honour.
