Biagio Mei e la Concezione di Vasari a Lucca: fortuna globale, sfortuna locale

This article reassesses Giorgio Vasari’s Altare Mei, commissioned by the Lucchese merchant Biagio Mei and completed in 1544, traditionally interpreted as a replica of the earlier Allegory of the Conception painted for Bindo Altoviti in Florence (1540– 41). Through archival evidence, Vasari’s own writings, and visual analysis, the study argues for the autonomy and originality of the Lucchese commission, whose commission may even predate the Florentine work. The Altare Mei is examined as a deliberate authorial variatio, shaped by local devotional traditions, patronage strategies, and theological sensitivities. Particular attention is given to Vasari’s allegorical representation of the Virgin as an active agent who liberates humanity from the bonds of original sin, and to the subtle yet significant iconographic and semantic differences between the two versions of the invention. By situating the Lucchese altar within Vasari’s broader experimentation with allegory across sacred and profane contexts, the article highlights the work’s importance in the artist’s development, as well as the paradox of its limited local reception in contrast to the wide diffusion of Vasari’s allegorical conception elsewhere.