Vies des peintres, sculpteurs et architectes par Georgio Vasari traduites par Léopold Leclanché et commentées par Jeanron et Léopold Leclanché

First complete edition. The publishing enterprise began in 1839, but publication extended from 1841 until 1842 for the final volumes. Illustrated with 121 lithographed portraits by Jeanron.
Contemporary half dark green shagreen binding. Raised band spine with decorated compartments. Gilt title and volume labels. Black and gilt fillets. A slight lack to one headcap. Light traces of rubbing. Handsome decorative set. Relatively fresh copy, with some scattered pale foxing.
Vasari (1511-1574) is the author of the precious and very famous collection entitled The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptors and Architects (Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori italiani) (1550-1570). He is the first to use the term Renaissance to qualify his era. This legendary work is of fundamental importance as it establishes the methodological premises of Art History. It brings together the biographies of Italian painters from Cimabue to Michelangelo. Furthermore, Vasari would create for the Medici the corridor that would connect the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti.