Vasari was born in 1511 to a rich family in the city of Arezzo in Tuscany. When he was 13 he was sent to Florence to study at the workshops of the well-known artists Andrea del Sarto. Florence is so famous for the arts that students like Vasari have been going there to learn painting and sculpture, ever since Giotto in the 1200s. The two most famous artists in the world, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were both alive when Vasari was a boy and had both studied in Florence. Vasari had the good luck to meet Michelangelo, who was like a great hero to Vasari.