At a glance

Type

State house museum and archive

Period

Acquired by Vasari c. 1540; frescoes executed c. 1542–1548; managed as museum since 19th century

Style

Renaissance Mannerist interior frescoes

Location

Via XX Settembre 55, 52100 Arezzo, Tuscany

Coordinates

43.4689° N, 11.8801° E

Overview

Casa Vasari in Arezzo is one of the very few surviving domestic interiors in Italy decorated entirely by a Renaissance master for his own personal use. Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), the Aretine painter and architect best known today for his biographies of Italian artists from Cimabue to Michelangelo, acquired the medieval house and transformed it into a showcase of his own artistic program. The house also holds the Archivio Vasariano, the most important documentary collection relating to the artist’s life and correspondence.

History

Vasari was born in Arezzo in 1511 and spent his career primarily in Florence and Rome, working for the Medici grand dukes and Pope Julius III. He purchased the house in his home city around 1540 and spent the following years commissioning and personally executing an elaborate fresco cycle across its principal rooms. The most celebrated space is the Sala del Trionfo della Virtù (Hall of the Triumph of Virtue), painted around 1542–1548. Vasari continued to use and embellish the house until his death in Florence in 1574. The building later passed through various owners and was eventually recognised as a national monument, coming under state management and opening regularly to the public.

What you see

The principal rooms on the upper floor preserve Vasari’s fresco decorations almost intact: the Sala del Trionfo della Virtù depicts allegorical figures celebrating the arts, with portraits of contemporaries including Michelangelo; the Camera della Fama shows Fame and the Virtues; and the Camera di Cerere is decorated with mythological scenes. The fresco programs are accompanied by carefully designed architectural settings painted in trompe-l’oeil. The house also displays period furniture, Vasari’s drawings, and material from the Archivio Vasariano, which holds hundreds of autograph letters.

Cultural significance

Casa Vasari is an exceptional document of Renaissance self-fashioning: the home as autobiography, painted by the same hand that wrote the first systematic history of Italian art. As such it offers a direct window into the ideals, ambitions, and cultural network of a central figure of 16th-century Italian culture. The Archivio Vasariano preserved here remains an essential primary source for art historians worldwide.

Practical information

Address

Via XX Settembre 55, 52100 Arezzo

Opening hours

Check official website for current hours; closed Tuesdays

Admission

Check official website for current ticket prices

Website

Direzione Regionale Musei Toscana

Getting there

Casa Vasari is on Via XX Settembre in the upper historic centre of Arezzo, a few minutes’ walk from the central Piazza Grande. Arezzo train station is served by regular trains from Florence (approximately 45–60 minutes) and from Rome (approximately 2 hours). From the station the house is about 10–15 minutes on foot uphill. Parking is available in the adjacent streets and in the city car parks near Piazza della Repubblica.

Sources & resources

• Wikipedia — Casa Vasari, Arezzo
• Cultural Heritage Online — Italy guide