What Italian painter, architect, and writer is best known today for his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, which was first published in 1550?

What British sculptor turned down a knighthood in 1951 because he felt “such a title might tend to cut me off from fellow artists whose work has aims similar to mine”?

Answers here~ https://schristywolfe.com/2015/07/30/july-30/