“Paesi che vai…” in Arezzo, with previously unseen paintings by Vasari

A discovery never told before, the one to which the episode of “Paesi che vai” on Sunday 28 April, broadcast at 2pm on Rai 2, is dedicated: two large canvases, attributed to Giorgio Vasari, which depict the Sermon of the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus, and which together made up a banner to be carried in procession.
Livio Leonardi retraces the incredible discovery of one of the two canvases, forgotten in the deposits of the bell tower of a church, from which, thanks to the expert research work of Dr. Serena Nocentini, it was possible to restore the paternity to the famous Arezzo artist. The discovery is so recent that the attribution will be confirmed after the necessary restorations and studies, but there are very strong indicators of a concrete possibility of adding the two works to Giorgio Vasari’s catalogue. Mannerist painter, he was able to distinguish himself and establish himself among the most esteemed intellectuals of his time thanks to his many talents. He was in fact a set designer, architect and father of the history of modern art, thanks to the edition of “The lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects”, or more simply “the Lives”.
Giorgio Vasari, despite the international scope of his fame, always remained linked to Arezzo, and “Paesi che vai” visits the places that were dear to him and that influenced his education, such as the city’s Cathedral, where he took his first steps of his artistic career, in the workshop of the Frenchman Guillaume de Marcillat. His architectural genius exploded thanks to his partnership with Cosimo I de Medici, which also led to the creation of Vasari’s Aqueduct. His house is important, to which the artist dedicated so much energy, making it in fact the mannerist manifesto of his production. Without forgetting the urban planning innovations, such as the Palazzo delle Logge in Piazza Grande, or his more personal works such as the funerary monument in the Badia delle SS. Flora and Lucilla.
The cameras also show other wonders preserved in Arezzo, such as the fascinating crucifix by Cimabue, before moving outside the city and discovering the ancient tradition of medicinal plants and the Casentino forests.