Giorgio Vasari. L’aria e la malattia, allegorie iniziatiche

The paper re-examines the significance of both “contagion“ and “aria“ within the symbolic and material economy of Vasari’s Vite. Since Chastel’s foundational essay on aria (1973), art historians have primarily interpreted this Vasarian criterion through the lens of stylistic “influence.” However, this perspective captures only one side of the issue: in Vasari’s complex thought, aria also possesses a “dark side,” acting as an environmental agent that produces contagion and potentially pathological and moral effects. The two editions of Vite underscore how air, as an environmental factor, shapes artists’ mano and maniera, as well as their creative capacity and even their physical and psychological well-being. Vasari frames this question in terms of air quality and pollution—both addressed by Renaissance physicians, such as in Cagnato’s De Romani aeris salubritate—as well as insalubrious emanations (miasmi) and contagion. Building on Avicenna’s medical theories, contagion is further theorized by Marsilio Ficino, Paracelsus, and Girolamo Fracastoro. Vasari then seeks to “graft” these early modern conceptions of contamination and pollution onto his discourse, imbuing air (as an atmospheric agent) with a pathological power. In doing so, he provides a “physical” and “medical” foundation for his broader discussion of art.