![Parmigianino 003b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Parmigianino_003b.jpg)
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
in
European art
The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleo ...
that emerged in the later years of the Italian
High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the
Baroque style largely replaced it.
Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...
continued into the early 17th century.
Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
,
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
,
Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
, and early
Michelangelo. Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, often resulting in compositions that are asymmetrical or unnaturally elegant.
[Gombrich 1995, .] Notable for its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities, this artistic style privileges compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting. Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication.
[Art and Illusion, E. H. Gombrich, ]
The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continues to be a subject of debate among art historians. For example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature (especially poetry) and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is also used to refer to some late
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530, especially the
Antwerp Mannerists—a group unrelated to the Italian movement. Mannerism has also been applied by analogy to the
Silver Age of Latin literature.
Nomenclature
![Laocoon Pio-Clementino Inv1059-1064-1067](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Laocoon_Pio-Clementino_Inv1059-1064-1067.jpg)
The word "Mannerism" derives from the Italian ''maniera'', meaning "style" or "manner". Like the English word "style", ''maniera'' can either indicate a specific type of style (a beautiful style, an abrasive style) or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification (someone "has style"). In the second edition of his ''
Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' (1568),
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
used ''maniera'' in three different contexts: to discuss an artist's manner or method of working; to describe a personal or group style, such as the term ''maniera greca'' to refer to the medieval
Italo-Byzantine
Italo-Byzantine is a style term in art history, mostly used for medieval paintings produced in Italy under heavy influence from Byzantine art. It initially covers religious paintings copying or imitating the standard Byzantine icon types, but pa ...
style or simply to the ''maniera'' of Michelangelo; and to affirm a positive judgment of artistic quality. Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as "la maniera moderna", or the "modern style". James V. Mirollo describes how "bella maniera" poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
.
[Mirollo 1984, ] This notion of "bella maniera" suggests that artists who were thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, rather than confronting nature directly. In essence, "bella maniera" utilized the best from a number of source materials, synthesizing it into something new.
As a stylistic label, "Mannerism" is not easily defined. It was used by Swiss historian
Jacob Burckhardt and popularized by German
art historians
The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...
in the early 20th century to categorize the seemingly uncategorizable art of the Italian 16th century – art that was no longer found to exhibit the harmonious and rational approaches associated with the High Renaissance. "High Renaissance" connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur and the revival of classical antiquity. The term "Mannerist" was redefined in 1967 by
John Shearman
John Kinder Gowran Shearman (pronounced "Sherman"; 24 June 1931 – 11 August 2003) was an English art historian who also taught in America. He was a specialist in Italian Renaissance painting, described by his colleague James S. Ackerman as "th ...
following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by
Fritz Grossmann
Fritz Grossmann, art historian. Born 26 June 1902 in Stanislau, (then Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian, Empire), now Ivano-Frankivsk in the Ukraine, died 16 November 1984, Croydon, London) was an Austrian-British art historian.
Biography
Frit ...
at
Manchester City Art Gallery in 1965. The label "Mannerism" was used during the 16th century to comment on social behaviour and to convey a refined virtuoso quality or to signify a certain technique. However, for later writers, such as the 17th-century
Gian Pietro Bellori
Giovanni Pietro Bellori (15 January 1613 – 19 February 1696), also known as Giovan Pietro Bellori or Gian Pietro Bellori, was an Italian painter and antiquarian, but, more famously, a prominent biographer of artists of the 17th century, equiva ...
, ''la maniera'' was a derogatory term for the perceived decline of art after Raphael, especially in the 1530s and 1540s. From the late 19th century on, art historians have commonly used the term to describe art that follows Renaissance classicism and precedes the Baroque.
Yet historians differ as to whether Mannerism is a style, a movement, or a period; and while the term remains controversial it is still commonly used to identify European art and culture of the 16th century.
Origin and development
By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis:
it seemed that everything that could be achieved was already achieved. No more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, physiognomy and the way in which humans register emotion in expression and gesture, the innovative use of the human form in figurative composition, the use of the subtle gradation of tone, all had reached near perfection. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches. At this point Mannerism started to emerge.
The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence,
[Friedländer 1965,] or in Rome, or in both cities simultaneously.
[Freedberg 1993, 175–77.]
Origins and role models
This period has been described as a "natural extension"
of the art of
Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo developed his own style at an early age, a deeply original one which was greatly admired at first, then often copied and imitated by other artists of the era.
One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his ''
terribilità
Terribilità, the modern Italian spelling, (or terribiltà, as Michelangelo's 16th century contemporaries tended to spell it) is a quality ascribed to his art that provokes terror, awe, or a sense of the sublime in the viewer. It is perhaps espe ...
'', a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it.
Other artists learned Michelangelo's impassioned and highly personal style by copying the works of the master, a standard way that students learned to paint and sculpt. His
Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatican ...
provided examples for them to follow, in particular his representation of collected figures often called ''
ignudi
The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatican ...
'' and of the
Libyan Sibyl
The Libyan Sibyl, named Phemonoe, was the prophetic priestess presiding over the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon (Zeus represented with the Horns of Ammon) at Siwa Oasis in the Libyan Desert.
The term ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ...
, his
vestibule to the
Laurentian Library, the figures on his
Medici tombs, and above all his ''
Last Judgment''. The later Michelangelo was one of the great role models of Mannerism.
Young artists broke into his house and stole drawings from him.
[Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects] In his book ''Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', Giorgio Vasari noted that Michelangelo stated once: "Those who are followers can never pass by whom they follow".
The competitive spirit
The competitive spirit was cultivated by patrons who encouraged sponsored artists to emphasize virtuosic technique and to compete with one another for commissions. It drove artists to look for new approaches and dramatically illuminated scenes, elaborate clothes and compositions, elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and a lack of clear perspective.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
and
Michelangelo were each given a commission by
Gonfaloniere
The Gonfalonier (in Italian: ''Gonfaloniere'') was the holder of a highly prestigious communal office in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. The name derives from ''gonfalone'' (in English, gonfalon), the ter ...
Piero Soderini
Piero di Tommaso Soderini (March 17, 1451 – June 13, 1522) also known as Pier Soderini, was an Italian statesman of the Republic of Florence.
Biography
Soderini was born in Florence to Tommaso di Lorenzo Soderini, a member of an old family ...
to decorate a wall in the Hall of Five Hundred in Florence. These two artists were set to paint side by side and compete against each other, fueling the incentive to be as innovative as possible.
Early mannerism
![Jacopo Pontormo 004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Jacopo_Pontormo_004.jpg)
The early Mannerists in Florence—especially the students of
Andrea del Sarto such as
Jacopo da Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound sty ...
and
Rosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Red Florentine" in Italian) ...
—are notable for elongated forms, precariously balanced poses, a collapsed perspective, irrational settings, and theatrical lighting.
Parmigianino
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, B ...
(a student of
Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...
) and
Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...
(Raphael's head assistant) were moving in similarly stylized aesthetic directions in Rome. These artists had matured under the influence of the High Renaissance, and their style has been characterized as a reaction to or exaggerated extension of it. Instead of studying nature directly, younger artists began studying Hellenistic sculpture and paintings of masters past. Therefore, this style is often identified as "anti-classical", yet at the time it was considered a natural progression from the High Renaissance. The earliest experimental phase of Mannerism, known for its "anti-classical" forms, lasted until about 1540 or 1550.
Marcia B. Hall
Marcia Hall, who usually publishes as Marcia B. Hall, is an American art historian, who is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Renaissance Art at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture of Temple University in Philadelphia. Hall's scholarship has ...
, professor of art history at Temple University, notes in her book ''After Raphael'' that Raphael's premature death marked the beginning of Mannerism in Rome.
In past analyses, it has been noted that mannerism arose in the early 16th century contemporaneously with a number of other social, scientific, religious and political movements such as the
Copernican heliocentrism
Copernican heliocentrism is the astronomical model developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543. This model positioned the Sun at the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets orbiting around it in circular ...
, the
Sack of Rome in 1527
The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of the city on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac. Despite not being ordered to storm the city, wit ...
, and the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
's increasing challenge to the power of the Catholic Church. Because of this, the style's elongated forms and distorted forms were once interpreted as a reaction to the idealized compositions prevalent in High Renaissance art.
[Manfred Wundram, "Mannerism," Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, ccessed 23 April 2008] This explanation for the radical stylistic shift c. 1520 has fallen out of scholarly favor, though early Mannerist art is still sharply contrasted with High Renaissance conventions; the accessibility and balance achieved by Raphael's ''
School of Athens
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...
'' no longer seemed to interest young artists.
High maniera
The second period of Mannerism is commonly differentiated from the earlier, so-called "anti-classical" phase.
Subsequent mannerists stressed intellectual conceits and artistic virtuosity, features that have led later critics to accuse them of working in an unnatural and affected "manner" (''maniera''). Maniera artists looked to their older contemporary Michelangelo as their principal model; theirs was an art imitating art, rather than an art imitating nature. Art historian
Sydney Joseph Freedberg
Sydney Joseph Freedberg (November 11, 1914 – May 6, 1997) was an American art historian and curator, mainly of Italian Renaissance painting.
Freedberg was born in Boston and attended the Boston Latin School. He graduated from Harvard College i ...
argues that the intellectualizing aspect of maniera art involves expecting its audience to notice and appreciate this visual reference—a familiar figure in an unfamiliar setting enclosed between "unseen, but felt, quotation marks". The height of artifice is the Maniera painter's penchant for deliberately misappropriating a quotation.
Agnolo Bronzino and
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
exemplify this strain of Maniera that lasted from about 1530 to 1580. Based largely at courts and in intellectual circles around Europe, Maniera art couples exaggerated elegance with exquisite attention to surface and detail: porcelain-skinned figures recline in an even, tempered light, acknowledging the viewer with a cool glance, if they make eye contact at all. The Maniera subject rarely displays much emotion, and for this reason works exemplifying this trend are often called 'cold' or 'aloof.' This is typical of the so-called "stylish style" or ''Maniera'' in its maturity.
Spread
![Henry Howard Earl of Surrey 1546](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Henry_Howard_Earl_of_Surrey_1546.jpg)
The cities Rome, Florence, and Mantua were Mannerist centers in Italy.
Venetian painting
Venetian painting was a major force in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Beginning with the work of Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516) and his brother Gentile Bellini (c. 1429–1507) and their workshops, the major artists of the Venetian ...
pursued a different course, represented by
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...
in his long career. A number of the earliest Mannerist artists who had been working in Rome during the 1520s fled the city after the
Sack of Rome in 1527. As they spread out across the continent in search of employment, their style was disseminated throughout Italy and Northern Europe. The result was the first international artistic style since the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
. Other parts of Northern Europe did not have the advantage of such direct contact with Italian artists, but the Mannerist style made its presence felt through prints and illustrated books. European rulers, among others, purchased Italian works, while northern European artists continued to travel to Italy, helping to spread the Mannerist style. Individual Italian artists working in the North gave birth to a movement known as the
Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...
.
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
, for example, was presented with
Bronzino's ''
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
''Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time'' (also called ''An Allegory of Venus and Cupid'' and ''A Triumph of Venus'') is an allegorical painting of about 1545 by the Florentine painter Agnolo Bronzino. It is now in the National Gallery, London. Scholars d ...
''. The style waned in Italy after 1580, as a new generation of artists, including the
Carracci The Carracci were a family of Italian artists. Notable members include:
* Agostino Carracci (1557–1602), Italian painter and printmaker
* Annibale Carracci (1560–1609), Italian Baroque painter and brother of Agostino Carracci
* Ludovico Carracc ...
brothers,
Caravaggio and
Cigoli
Lodovico Cardi (21 September 1559 – 8 June 1613), also known as Cigoli, was an Italian painter and architect of the late Mannerist and early Baroque period, trained and active in his early career in Florence, and spending the last nine years ...
, revived naturalism.
Walter Friedlaender
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
identified this period as "anti-mannerism", just as the early Mannerists were "anti-classical" in their reaction away from the aesthetic values of the High Renaissance and today the Carracci brothers and
Caravaggio are agreed to have begun the transition to Baroque-style painting which was dominant by 1600.
Outside of Italy, however, Mannerism continued into the 17th century. In France, where Rosso traveled to work for the court at
Fontainebleau, it is known as the "
Henry II style
The Henry II style was the chief artistic movement of the sixteenth century in France, part of Northern Mannerism. It came immediately after High Renaissance and was largely the product of Italian influences. Francis I and his daughter-in-law, Cath ...
" and had a particular impact on architecture. Other important continental centers of
Northern Mannerism
Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...
include the court of
Rudolf II
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, as well as
Haarlem and
Antwerp. Mannerism as a stylistic category is less frequently applied to
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
visual and decorative arts, where native labels such as "
Elizabethan" and "
Jacobean" are more commonly applied. Seventeenth-century
Artisan Mannerism
The Caroline era is the period in English and Scottish history named for the 24-year reign of Charles I (1625–1649). The term is derived from ''Carolus'', the Latin for Charles. The Caroline era followed the Jacobean era, the reign of Charles's ...
is one exception, applied to architecture that relies on pattern books rather than on existing precedents in Continental Europe.
Of particular note is the Flemish influence at Fontainebleau that combined the eroticism of the French style with an early version of the
vanitas
A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-kn ...
tradition that would dominate seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish painting. Prevalent at this time was the ''pittore vago'', a description of painters from the north who entered the workshops in France and Italy to create a truly international style.
Sculpture
As in painting, early Italian Mannerist sculpture was very largely an attempt to find an original style that would top the achievement of the
High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
, which in sculpture essentially meant Michelangelo, and much of the struggle to achieve this was played out in commissions to fill other places in the
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called Palazzo Vecchio. It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republ ...
in Florence, next to
Michelangelo's ''
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
''.
Baccio Bandinelli
Baccio Bandinelli (also called Bartolommeo Brandini; 12 November 1493 – shortly before 7 February 1560), was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, draughtsman, and painter.
Biography
Bandinelli was the son of a prominent Florentine goldsmith, ...
took over the project of ''
Hercules and Cacus'' from the master himself, but it was little more popular then than it is now, and maliciously compared by
Benvenuto Cellini to "a sack of melons", though it had a long-lasting effect in apparently introducing relief panels on the
pedestal
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...
of statues. Like other works of his and other Mannerists, it removes far more of the original block than Michelangelo would have done. Cellini's bronze ''
Perseus with the head of Medusa
''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'' is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in the period 1545–1554. The sculpture stands on a square base which has bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda (mythology), Androm ...
'' is certainly a masterpiece, designed with eight angles of view, another Mannerist characteristic, and artificially stylized in comparison with the ''David''s of Michelangelo and Donatello. Originally a goldsmith, his famous gold and enamel
Salt Cellar
A salt cellar (also called a salt, salt-box and a salt pig) is an article of tableware for holding and dispensing salt. In British English, the term is normally used for what in North American English are called salt shakers. Salt cellars can be ...
(1543) was his first sculpture, and shows his talent at its best.
Small bronze figures for collector's
cabinets, often mythological subjects with nudes, were a popular Renaissance form at which
Giambologna, originally
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
but based in Florence, excelled in the later part of the century. He also created life-size sculptures, of which two entered the collection in the Piazza della Signoria. He and his followers devised elegant elongated examples of the ''
figura serpentinata'', often of two intertwined figures, that were interesting from all angles.
File:1993-1994-Giardino Giusti (Verona)-testo e photo Paolo Villa-nB08 Cortile-Statua di Apollo - scultura Arte Manierista - parete di rampicanti - Kodak EktachromeElite 100 5045 EB 100.jpg, Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...
's sculpture, Palazzo Giusti
The Giusti Palace and Garden ( it, Palazzo e giardino Giusti) are located in the east of Verona, Italy, a short distance from Piazza Isolo and near the city centre. The palace was built in the sixteenth century. The garden is considered one o ...
Verona, Mannerism art with typical Contrapposto
''Contrapposto'' () is an Italian term that means "counterpoise". It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the ...
File:Fontainebleau escalier roi.jpg, Stucco overdoor
An "overdoor" (or "Supraporte" as in German, or "sopraporte" as in Italian) is a painting, bas-relief or decorative panel, generally in a horizontal format, that is set, typically within ornamental mouldings, over a door, or was originally intend ...
at Fontainebleau, probably designed by Primaticcio
Francesco Primaticcio (April 30, 1504 – 1570) was an Italian Mannerist painter, architect and sculptor who spent most of his career in France.
Biography
Born in Bologna, he trained under Giulio Romano in Mantua and became a pupil of ...
, who painted the oval inset, 1530s or 1540s
File:03 2015 Perseo con la testa di Medusa-Benvenuto Cellini-Piazza della Signoria-Loggia dei Lanzi-volta a crociera-ordine corinzio (Firenze) Photo Paolo Villa FOTO9260.JPG, Benvenuto Cellini, ''Perseus with the head of Medusa
''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'' is a bronze sculpture made by Benvenuto Cellini in the period 1545–1554. The sculpture stands on a square base which has bronze relief panels depicting the story of Perseus and Andromeda (mythology), Androm ...
'', 1545–1554
File:Samson slaying a philistine.jpg, Giambologna, ''Samson Slaying a Philistine'', about 1562
File:Giambologna raptodasabina.jpg, Giambologna, ''Abduction of a Sabine Woman
''Abduction of a Sabine Woman'' (or ''Rape of the Sabine Women'') is a large and complex marble statue by the Flemish sculptor and architect Giambologna (Johannes of Boulogne). It was completed between 1579 and 1583 for Cosimo I de' Medici.Jan ...
'', completed 1583, Florence, Italy, 13' 6" high, marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
File:Devries-mercuriocrop.jpg, Adriaen de Vries
Adriaen de Vries (c.1556–1626) was a Northern Mannerist sculptor born in the Netherlands but working in Central Europe, whose international style crossed the threshold to the Baroque; he excelled in refined modelling and bronze casting and ...
, ''Mercury and Psyche'' Northern Mannerist
Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...
life-size bronze, made in 1593 for Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...
.
File:Statue Of Venus.jpg, ''Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
'', c. 125; Marble, Roman; British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
Early theorists
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
's opinions about the art of painting emerge in the praise he bestows on fellow artists in his multi-volume ''
Lives of the Artists
''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...
'': he believed that excellence in painting demanded refinement, richness of invention (''invenzione''), expressed through virtuoso technique (''maniera''), and wit and study that appeared in the finished work, all criteria that emphasized the artist's intellect and the patron's sensibility. The artist was now no longer just a trained member of a local Guild of St Luke. Now he took his place at court alongside scholars, poets, and humanists, in a climate that fostered an appreciation for elegance and complexity. The coat-of-arms of Vasari's
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...
patrons appears at the top of his portrait, quite as if it were the artist's own. The framing of the woodcut image of Vasari's ''Lives'' would be called "
Jacobean" in an English-speaking milieu. In it, Michelangelo's Medici tombs inspire the anti-architectural "architectural" features at the top, the papery pierced frame, the satyr nudes at the base. As a mere frame it is extravagant: Mannerist, in short..
Gian Paolo Lomazzo
Another literary figure from the period is
Gian Paolo Lomazzo
Gian Paolo Lomazzo (26 April 1538 – 27 January 1592; his first name is sometimes also given as "Giovan" or "Giovanni") was an Italian artist and writer on art. Praised as a painter, Lomazzo wrote about artistic practice and art theory after ...
, who produced two works—one practical and one metaphysical—that helped define the Mannerist artist's self-conscious relation to his art. His ''Trattato dell'arte della pittura, scoltura et architettura'' (Milan, 1584) is in part a guide to contemporary concepts of
decorum
Decorum (from the Latin: "right, proper") was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory concerning the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject. The concept of ''decorum'' is also applied to prescribed limit ...
, which the Renaissance inherited in part from Antiquity but Mannerism elaborated upon. Lomazzo's systematic codification of aesthetics, which typifies the more formalized and academic approaches typical of the later 16th century, emphasized a consonance between the functions of interiors and the kinds of painted and sculpted decors that would be suitable. Iconography, often convoluted and abstruse, is a more prominent element in the Mannerist styles. His less practical and more metaphysical ''Idea del tempio della pittura'' (''The ideal temple of painting'', Milan, 1590) offers a description along the lines of the "
four temperaments" theory of human nature and personality, defining the role of individuality in judgment and artistic invention.
Characteristics of artworks
Mannerism was an anti-classical movement which differed greatly from the aesthetic ideologies of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
.
Though Mannerism was initially accepted with positivity based on the writings of
Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
,
it was later regarded in a negative light because it solely view as, "an alteration of natural truth and a trite repetition of natural formulas."
As an artistic moment, Mannerism involves many characteristics that are unique and specific to experimentation of how art is perceived. Below is a list of many specific characteristics that Mannerist artists would employ in their artworks.
* Elongation of figures: often Mannerist work featured the elongation of the human figure – occasionally this contributed to the bizarre imagery of some Mannerist art.
* Distortion of perspective: in paintings, the distortion of
perspective explored the ideals for creating a perfect space. However, the idea of perfection sometimes alluded to the creation of unique imagery. One way in which distortion was explored was through the technique of
foreshortening
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
. At times, when extreme distortion was utilized, it would render the image nearly impossible to decipher.
* Black backgrounds: Mannerist artists often utilized flat black backgrounds to present a full contrast of contours in order to create dramatic scenes. Black backgrounds also contributed to a creating sense of fantasy within the subject matter.
* Use of darkness and light: many Mannerists were interested in capturing the essence of the night sky through the use of intentional illumination, often creating a sense of fantasy scenes. Notably, special attention was paid to torch and moonlight to create dramatic scenes.
* Sculptural forms: Mannerism was greatly influenced by sculpture, which gained popularity in the sixteenth century. As a result, Mannerist artists often based their depictions of human bodies in reference to sculptures and prints. This allowed Mannerist artists to focus on creating dimension.
* Clarity of line: the attention that was paid to clean outlines of figures was prominent within Mannerism and differed largely from the
Baroque and
High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
.The outlines of figures often allowed for more attention to detail.
*
Composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
and space: Mannerist artists rejected the ideals of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
, notably the technique of
one-point perspective
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
. Instead, there was an emphasis on atmospheric effects and distortion of
perspective. The use of space in Mannerist works instead privileged crowded compositions with various forms and figures or scant compositions with emphasis on black backgrounds.
* Mannerist movement: the interest in the study of human movement often lead to Mannerist artists rendering a unique type of movement linked to
serpentine positions. These positions often anticipate the movements of future positions because of their often-unstable motions figures. In addition, this technique attributes to the artist's experimentation of form.
* Painted frames: in some Mannerist works, painted frames were utilized to blend in with the background of paintings and at times, contribute to the overall composition of the artwork. This is at times prevalent when there is special attention paid to ornate detailing.
* Atmospheric effects: many Mannerists utilized the technique of
sfumato, known as, "the rendering of soft and hazy contours or surfaces"
in their paintings for rendering the streaming of light.
* Mannerist colour: a unique aspect of Mannerism was in addition to the experimentation of form, composition, and light, much of the same curiosity was applied to color. Many artworks toyed with pure and intense
hue
In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that ...
s of blues, green, pinks, and yellows, which at times detract from the overall design of artworks, and at other times, complement it. Additionally, when rending skin tone, artists would often concentrate on create overly creaming and light complexions and often utilize undertones of blue.
Artists and examples of their work
Jacopo da Pontormo
Jacopo da Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound sty ...
's work is one of the most important contributions to Mannerism.
He often drew his subject matter from religious narratives; heavily influenced by the works of Michelangelo,
he frequently alludes to or uses sculptural forms as models for his compositions.
A well-known element of his work is the rendering of gazes by various figures which often pierce out at the viewer in various directions.
Dedicated to his work, Pontormo often expressed anxiety about its quality and was known to work slowly and methodically.
His legacy is highly regarded, as he influenced artists such as
Agnolo Bronzino and the aesthetic ideals of late Mannerism.
Pontormo's ''Joseph in Egypt'', painted in 1517,
portrays a running narrative of four Biblical scenes in which
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
reconnects with his family. On the left side of the composition, Pontomoro depicts a scene of Joseph introducing his family to the
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. On the right, Joseph is riding on a rolling bench, as cherubs fill the composition around him in addition to other figures and large rocks on a path in the distance. Above these scenes, is a spiral staircase which Joseph guides one his sons to their mother at the top. The final scene, on the right, is the final stage of Jacob's death as his sons watch nearby.
Pontormo's ''Joseph in Egypt'' features many Mannerist elements. One element is utilization of incongruous colors such as various shades of pinks and blues which make up a majority of the
canvas. An additional element of Mannerism is the incoherent handling of time about the story of Joseph through various scenes and use of space. Through the inclusion of the four different narratives, Ponotormo creates a cluttered composition and overall sense of busyness.
Rosso Fiorentino and the School of Fontainebleau
Rosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Red Florentine" in Italian) ...
, who had been a fellow pupil of Pontormo in the studio of
Andrea del Sarto, in 1530 brought Florentine Mannerism to
Fontainebleau, where he became one of the founders of French 16th-century Mannerism, popularly known as the
School of Fontainebleau
The School of Fontainbleau (french: École de Fontainebleau) (c. 1530 – c. 1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming the No ...
.
The examples of a rich and hectic decorative style at Fontainebleau further disseminated the Italian style through the medium of
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...
s to
Antwerp, and from there throughout Northern Europe, from London to Poland. Mannerist design was extended to luxury goods like silver and carved furniture. A sense of tense, controlled emotion expressed in elaborate symbolism and
allegory, and an ideal of female beauty characterized by elongated proportions are features of this style.
Agnolo Bronzino
Agnolo Bronzino was a pupil of Pontormo,
whose style was very influential and often confusing in terms of figuring out the attribution of many artworks.
During his career, Bronzino also collaborated with
Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
as a
set designer
Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly train ...
for the production "Comedy of Magicians", where he painted many
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
s.
Bronzino's work was sought after, and he enjoyed great success when he became a
court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...
for the
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...
family in 1539.
A unique Mannerist characteristic of Bronzino's work was the rendering of milky
complexion
Complexion in humans is the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially on the face.
History
The word "complexion" is derived from the Late Latin ''complexi'', which initially referred in general terms to a combination of thi ...
s.
In the painting, ''
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
''Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time'' (also called ''An Allegory of Venus and Cupid'' and ''A Triumph of Venus'') is an allegorical painting of about 1545 by the Florentine painter Agnolo Bronzino. It is now in the National Gallery, London. Scholars d ...
'', Bronzino portrays an erotic scene that leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. In the foreground,
Cupid and
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
are nearly engaged in a kiss, but pause as if caught in the act. Above the pair are mythological figures,
Father Time
Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device.
As an image, "Father Ti ...
on the right, who pulls a curtain to reveal the pair and the representation of the
goddess of the night on the left. The composition also involves a grouping of masks, a
hybrid creature composed of features of a girl and a serpent, and a man depicted in agonizing pain. Many theories are available for the painting, such as it conveying the dangers of
syphilis, or that the painting functioned as a
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
game.
Mannerist portraits by Bronzino are distinguished by a serene elegance and meticulous attention to detail. As a result, Bronzino's sitters have been said to project an aloofness and marked emotional distance from the viewer. There is also a virtuosic concentration on capturing the precise pattern and sheen of rich textiles. Specifically, within the ''Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time'', Bronzino utilizes the tactics of Mannerist movement, attention to detail, color, and sculptural forms. Evidence of Mannerist movement is apparent in the awkward movements of Cupid and Venus, as they contort their bodies to partly embrace. Particularly, Bronzino paints the complexion with the many forms as a perfect porcelain white with a smooth effacement of their muscles which provides a reference to the smoothness of sculpture.
Alessandro Allori
Alessandro Allori
Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori (Florence, 31 May 153522 September 1607) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school.
Biography
In 1540, after the death of his father, Allori was brought up and train ...
's (1535–1607) ''Susanna and the Elders'' (''below'') is distinguished by latent eroticism and consciously brilliant still life detail, in a crowded, contorted composition.
Jacopo Tintoretto
Jacopo Tintoretto
Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...
has been known for his vastly different contributions to
Venetian painting
Venetian painting was a major force in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Beginning with the work of Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516) and his brother Gentile Bellini (c. 1429–1507) and their workshops, the major artists of the Venetian ...
after the legacy of
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...
. His work, which differed greatly from his predecessors, had been criticized by
Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
for its, "fantastical, extravagant, bizarre style."
Within his work, Tintoretto adopted Mannerist elements that have distanced him from the classical notion of Venetian painting, as he often created artworks which contained elements of fantasy and retained
naturalism.
Other unique elements of Tintoretto's work include his attention to color through the regular utilization of rough brushstrokes
and experimentation with pigment to create illusion.
An artwork that is associated with Mannerist characteristics is the ''
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
''; it was commissioned by Michele Alabardi for the
San Giorgio Maggiore
San Giorgio Maggiore ( vec, San Zorzi Mazor) is one of the islands of Venice, northern Italy, lying east of the Giudecca and south of the main island group. The island, or more specifically its Palladian church, is an important landmark. It ha ...
in 1591.
In Tintoretto's ''Last Supper'', the scene is portrayed from the angle of group of people along the right side of the composition. On the left side of the painting,
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and the
Apostles occupy one side of the table and single out
Judas
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...
. Within the dark space, there are few sources of light; one source is emitted by Christ's
halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
and hanging torch above the table.
In its distinct composition, the ''Last Supper'' portrays Mannerist characteristics. One characteristic that Tintoretto utilizes is a black background. Though the painting gives some indication of an interior space through the use of
perspective, the edges of the composition are mostly shrouded in shadow which provides drama for the central scene of the ''Last Supper''. Additionally, Tintoretto utilizes the spotlight effects with light, especially with the halo of Christ and the hanging torch above the table. A third Mannerist characteristic that Tintoretto employs are the atmospheric effects of figures shaped in smoke and float about the composition.
El Greco
El Greco attempted to express religious emotion with exaggerated traits. After the realistic depiction of the human form and the mastery of perspective achieved in High Renaissance, some artists started to deliberately distort proportions in disjointed, irrational space for emotional and artistic effect. El Greco still is a deeply original artist. He has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school.
Key aspects of Mannerism in El Greco include the jarring "acid" palette, elongated and tortured anatomy, irrational perspective and light, and obscure and troubling iconography. El Greco's style was a culmination of unique developments based on his Greek heritage and travels to Spain and Italy.
El Greco's work reflects a multitude of styles including
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
elements as well as the influence of
Caravaggio and
Parmigianino
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, B ...
in addition to
Venetian coloring.
An important element is his attention to color as he regarded it to be one of the most important aspects of his painting. Over the course of his career, El Greco's work remained in high demand as he completed important commissions in locations such as the
Colegio de la Encarnación de Madrid.
El Greco's unique painting style and connection to Mannerist characteristics is especially prevalent in the work ''
Laocoön
Laocoön (; grc, , Laokóōn, , gen.: ), is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. Laocoon was a Trojan priest. He and his two young sons were attacked by giant serpents, sent by the gods. The story of Laocoön has been the su ...
''. Painted in 1610,
it depicts the mythological tale of
Laocoön
Laocoön (; grc, , Laokóōn, , gen.: ), is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. Laocoon was a Trojan priest. He and his two young sons were attacked by giant serpents, sent by the gods. The story of Laocoön has been the su ...
, who warned the
Trojans
Trojan or Trojans may refer to:
* Of or from the ancient city of Troy
* Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans
Arts and entertainment Music
* '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...
about the danger of the
wooden horse which was presented by the Greeks as peace offering to the goddess
Minerva
Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...
. As a result, Minerva retaliated in revenge by summoning serpents to kill Laocoön and his two sons. Instead of being set against the backdrop of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
, El Greco situated the scene near
Toledo, Spain
Toledo ( , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESC ...
in order to "universalize the story by drawing out its relevance for the contemporary world."
El Greco's unique style in ''Laocoön'' exemplifies many Mannerist characteristics. Prevalent is the elongation of many of the human forms throughout the composition in conjunction with their serpentine movement, which provides a sense of elegance. An additional element of Mannerist style is the atmospheric effects in which El Greco creates a hazy sky and blurring of landscape in the background.
Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini created the ''
Cellini Salt Cellar
The ''Cellini Salt Cellar'' (in Vienna called the ''Saliera'', Italian for salt cellar) is a part- enamelled gold table sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini. It was completed in 1543 for Francis I of France, from models that had been prepared many ye ...
'' of gold and enamel in 1540 featuring
Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...
and
Amphitrite
In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; grc-gre, Ἀμφιτρίτη, Amphitrítē) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and the wife of Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Ro ...
(water and earth) placed in uncomfortable positions and with elongated proportions. It is considered a masterpiece of Mannerist sculpture.
Lavinia Fontana
Lavinia Fontana
Lavinia Fontana (August 24, 1552 – August 11, 1614) was a Bolognese Mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is best known for her successful portraiture, but also worked in the genres of mythology and religious painting. She was trai ...
(1552–1614) was a Mannerist portraitist often acknowledged to be the first female career artist in Western Europe. She was appointed to be the Portraitist in Ordinary at the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
. Her style is characterized as being influenced by the
Carracci family of painters by the colors of the Venetian School. She is known for her portraits of noblewomen, and for her depiction of nude figures, which was unusual for a woman of her time.
Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari)
Taddeo Zuccaro was born in
Sant'Angelo in Vado
Sant'Angelo in Vado is a ''comune'' (municipality), site of Ancient Tifernum Metaurense and former bishopric in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the central Italian Adriatic region Marche.
Geography
It is located about west of Ancona and abo ...
, near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccari, an almost unknown painter. His brother
Federico, born around 1540, was also a painter and architect.
Federico Zuccaro (or Zuccari)
Federico Zuccaro
Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541August 6, 1609), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad.
Biography
Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino (Marche).
His docum ...
’s documented career as a painter began in 1550, when he moved to Rome to work under
Taddeo Taddeo is a masculine given name which may refer to:
* Taddeo Alderotti (between 1206 and 1215-1295), Italian doctor and professor of medicine
* Taddeo Altini O.S.A. (1609-1685), Roman Catholic Bishop of Civita Castellana e Orte, and Titular Bisho ...
, his elder brother. He went on to complete decorations for
Pius IV
Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...
, and help complete the fresco decorations at the
Villa Farnese at Caprarola. Between 1563 and 1565, he was active in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
with the
Grimani
The House of Grimani was a prominent Venetian patrician family, including three Doges of Venice. They were active in trade, politics and later the ownership of theatres and opera-houses. Notable members included:
Notable members
* Domenico Gri ...
family of Santa Maria Formosa. During his Venetian period, he traveled alongside
Palladio in Friuli.
Joachim Wtewael
Joachim Wtewael
Joachim Anthoniszoon Wtewael (; also known as Uytewael ) (1566 – 1 August 1638) was a Dutch Mannerist painter and draughtsman, as well as a highly successful flax merchant, and town councillor of Utrecht. Wtewael was one of the leadin ...
(1566–1638) continued to paint in a
Northern Mannerist
Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...
style until the end of his life, ignoring the arrival of the
Baroque art
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
, and making him perhaps the last significant Mannerist artist still to be working. His subjects included large scenes with still life in the manner of
Pieter Aertsen
Pieter Aertsen (1508 – 2 June 1575), called ''Lange Piet'' ("Tall Pete") because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, which combines still life ...
, and mythological scenes, many small
cabinet painting
A cabinet painting (or "cabinet picture") is a small painting, typically no larger than two feet (0.6 meters) in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used for paintings that show full-length figures or landscapes at a s ...
s beautifully executed on copper, and most featuring nudity.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (; also spelled ''Arcimboldi'') (1526 or 1527 – 11 July 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
These wo ...
is most readily known for his artworks that incorporate
still life and
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
ure.
His style is viewed as Mannerist with the assemblage style of fruits and vegetables in which its composition can be depicted in various ways—right side up and upside down.
Arcimboldo's artworks have also applied to Mannerism in terms of humor that it conveys to viewers, because it does not hold the same degree of seriousness as Renaissance works.
Stylistically, Arcimboldo's paintings are known for their attention to nature and concept of a "monstrous appearance."
One of Arcimboldo's paintings which contains various Mannerist characteristics is, ''
Vertumnus
In Roman mythology, Vertumnus (; also Vortumnus or Vertimnus) is the god of seasons, change and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. He could change his form at will; using this power, according to Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' (xiv) ...
''. Painted against a black background is a portrait of
Rudolf II
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
, whose body is composed of various vegetables, flowers, and fruits.
The joke of the painting communicates the humor of power which is that Emperor Rudolf II is hiding a dark inner self behind his public image.
On the other hand, the serious tone of the painting foreshadows the good fortune that would be prevalent during his reign.
''Vertumnus'' contains various Mannerist elements in terms of its composition and message. One element is the flat, black background which Arcimboldo utilizes to emphasize the status and identity of the Emperor, as well as highlighting the fantasy of his reign. In the portrait of Rudolf II, Arcimboldo also strays away from the
naturalistic representation of the Renaissance, and explores the construction of composition by rendering him from a jumble of fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers. Another element of Mannerism which the painting portrays is the dual narrative of a joke and serious message; humor wasn't normally utilized in Renaissance artworks.
File:Jacopo Pontormo 032.jpg, Jacopo Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a profound sty ...
''Joseph in Egypt'', 1515–1518; Oil on wood; 96 x 109 cm; National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London
File:Fontainebleau interior francois I gallery 02.JPG, Rosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Red Florentine" in Italian) ...
, Francois I Gallery, ''Château de Fontainebleau
Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...
'', France
File:AN00056627 001 l Caraglio Juno in niche.jpg, Juno
Juno commonly refers to:
*Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
*Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007
Juno may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
*Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno''
*Ju ...
in a niche, engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...
by Jacopo Caraglio, probably from a drawing of 1526 by Rosso Fiorentino
File:Bibliotekarien konserverad - Skoklosters slott - 97136.tif, Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (; also spelled ''Arcimboldi'') (1526 or 1527 – 11 July 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
These wo ...
, '' The Librarian'', 1562, Skokloster Castle
Skokloster Castle ( sv, Skoklosters slott) is a Swedish Baroque castle built between 1654 and 1676 by Carl Gustaf Wrangel, located on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala. It became a state museum in the 1970s and displays co ...
.
File:Arcimboldo, Giuseppe ~ Autumn, 1573, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.jpg, Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (; also spelled ''Arcimboldi'') (1526 or 1527 – 11 July 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
These wo ...
, ''Autumn'', 1573, oil on canvas, Louvre Museum, Paris
File:Vertumnus årstidernas gud målad av Guiseppe Arcimboldo 1591 - Skoklosters slott - 91503.tif, Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (; also spelled ''Arcimboldi'') (1526 or 1527 – 11 July 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books.
These wo ...
, ''Vertumnus the god of seasons'', 1591, Skokloster Castle
Skokloster Castle ( sv, Skoklosters slott) is a Swedish Baroque castle built between 1654 and 1676 by Carl Gustaf Wrangel, located on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala. It became a state museum in the 1970s and displays co ...
File:Angelo Bronzino 037.jpg, Bronzino, '' Portrait of Bia de' Medici'', c. 1545
File:Alessandro Allori - Susanna and The Elders - WGA00186.jpg, Alessandro Allori
Alessandro di Cristofano di Lorenzo del Bronzino Allori (Florence, 31 May 153522 September 1607) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist Florentine school.
Biography
In 1540, after the death of his father, Allori was brought up and train ...
, ''Susanna and the Elders'', 1561
File:Elgreco.christ.200pix.jpg, El Greco, ''Baptism'', c. 1614
Architecture
![Piękne niebo nad ratuszem w Zamościu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Pi%C4%99kne_niebo_nad_ratuszem_w_Zamo%C5%9Bciu.jpg)
Mannerist architecture was characterized by visual trickery and unexpected elements that challenged the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
norms.
Flemish artists, many of whom had traveled to Italy and were influenced by Mannerist developments there, were responsible for the spread of Mannerist trends into Europe north of the Alps, including into the realm of architecture. During the period, architects experimented with using architectural forms to emphasize solid and spatial relationships. The Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative rhythms. The best known architect associated with the Mannerist style, and a pioneer at the
Laurentian Library, was
Michelangelo (1475–1564). He is credited with inventing the
giant order
In classical architecture, a giant order, also known as colossal order, is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) storeys. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys tha ...
, a large pilaster that stretches from the bottom to the top of a façade. He used this in his design for the
Piazza del Campidoglio
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. T ...
in Rome. The ''
Herrerian style
The Herrerian style ( es, estilo herreriano or ''arquitectura herreriana'') of architecture was developed in Spain during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of Philip II (1556–1598), and continued in force in the 17th centu ...
'' ( es, estilo herreriano or ''arquitectura herreriana'') of
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
was developed in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
(1556–1598),
and continued in force in the 17th century, but transformed by the
Baroque style
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
of the time. It corresponds to the third and final stage of the
Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance was a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries.
This new focus in art, literature,
quotes and science inspired ...
architecture, which evolved into a progressive purification ornamental, from the initial
Plateresque
Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially architectural, developed in Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance ...
to classical
Purism
Purism, referring to the arts, was a movement that took place between 1918 and 1925 that influenced French painting and architecture. Purism was led by Amédée Ozenfant and Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier). Ozenfant and Le Corbusier f ...
of the second third of the 16th century and total nudity decorative that introduced the Herrerian style.
Prior to the 20th century, the term ''Mannerism'' had negative connotations, but it is now used to describe the historical period in more general, non-judgmental terms. Mannerist architecture has also been used to describe a trend in the 1960s and 1970s that involved breaking the norms of modernist architecture while at the same time recognizing their existence.
[ Defining Mannerism in this context, architect and author ]Robert Venturi
Robert Charles Venturi Jr. (June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018) was an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, and one of the major architectural figures of the twentieth century.
Together with h ...
wrote "Mannerism for architecture of our time that acknowledges conventional order rather than original expression but breaks the conventional order to accommodate complexity and contradiction and thereby engages ambiguity unambiguously."
Renaissance examples
An example of Mannerist architecture is the Villa Farnese
The Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola, is a pentagonal mansion in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy, approximately north-west of Rome. This villa should not be confused with the Palazzo Farnese a ...
at Caprarola Caprarola is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The village is situated in a range of volcanic hills known as the Cimini Mounts.
The town is home to the large Renaissance mansion or villa which ...
, in the rugged countryside outside of Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. The proliferation of engravers during the 16th century spread Mannerist styles more quickly than any previous styles.
Dense with ornament of "Roman" detailing, the display doorway at Colditz Castle
Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...
exemplifies the northern style, characteristically applied as an isolated "set piece" against unpretentious vernacular walling.
From the late 1560s onwards, many buildings in Valletta
Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...
, the new capital city of Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, were designed by the architect Girolamo Cassar
Girolamo Cassar ( mt, Ġlormu Cassar, 1520 – 1592) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He was the resident engineer of the Order of St. John, and was admitted into the Order in 1569. He was involved in the construction of Valletta, ...
in the Mannerist style. Such buildings include St. John's Co-Cathedral, the Grandmaster's Palace and the seven original auberges. Many of Cassar's buildings were modified over the years, especially in the Baroque period. However, a few buildings, such as Auberge d'Aragon
The Auberge d'Aragon ( mt, Berġa ta' Aragona) is an auberge in Valletta, Malta. It was built in 1571 to house knights of the Order of Saint John from the langue of Aragon, Navarre and Catalonia. It is the only surviving auberge in Vall ...
and the exterior of St. John's Co-Cathedral, still retain most of Cassar's original Mannerist design.
File:Palazzo Te Mantova 1.jpg, One of the best examples of Mannerist architecture: Palazzo Te
or is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, and the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. Although formed in Italian, the usual name in English of Palazzo del Te is not that ...
in Mantova, designed by Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...
File:3538MantovaPalazzoDucale.jpg, Giulio Romano, Pallazo Ducale in Mantova
File:3579MantovaCasaGiulioRomano.jpg, Own house of Giulio Romano in Mantova
File:Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne.jpg, Baldassare Peruzzi, Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne
The Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne is a Renaissance palace in Rome, Italy.
History
The palace was designed by Baldassarre Peruzzi in 1532–1536 on a site of three contiguous palaces owned by the old Roman Massimo family and built after arson de ...
in Rome
File:Biblioteca laurenziana, vestibolo 04.JPG, Michelangelo, vestibule of Laurentian Library
File:St Johns Co-Cathedral.jpg, St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta
File:Catedral Basílica Salvador 2019-6527.jpg, Cathedral Basilica of Salvador, Brazil, built between 1657 and 1746, a UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site.
File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 152 (cropped).JPG, The large Basilica of San Francisco, in Quito, Ecuador, built between 1535-1650.
Literature and music
In English literature, Mannerism is commonly identified with the qualities of the "Metaphysical" poets of whom the most famous is John Donne. The witty sally of a Baroque writer, John Dryden
''
John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.
He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...
, against the verse of Donne in the previous generation, affords a concise contrast between Baroque and Mannerist aims in the arts:
The rich musical possibilities in the poetry of the late 16th and early 17th centuries provided an attractive basis for the madrigal
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance music, Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque music, Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The Polyphony, polyphoni ...
, which quickly rose to prominence as the pre-eminent musical form in Italian musical culture, as discussed by Tim Carter:
The word Mannerism has also been used to describe the style of highly florid and contrapuntally complex polyphonic music made in France in the late 14th century. This period is now usually referred to as the '' ars subtilior''.
Mannerism and theatre
''The Early Commedia dell'Arte (1550–1621): The Mannerist Context'' by Paul Castagno discusses Mannerism's effect on the contemporary professional theatre. Castagno's was the first study to define a theatrical form as Mannerist, employing the vocabulary of Mannerism and maniera to discuss the typification, exaggerated, and ''effetto meraviglioso'' of the ''comici dell'arte''. See Part II of the above book for a full discussion of Mannerist characteristics in the commedia dell'arte. The study is largely iconographic, presenting a pictorial evidence that many of the artists who painted or printed commedia images were in fact, coming from the workshops of the day, heavily ensconced in the maniera tradition.
The preciosity in Jacques Callot
Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine (an independent state on the north-eastern border of France, southwestern border of Germany and overlapping the southern Netherlands). He is an impor ...
's minute engravings seem to belie a much larger scale of action. Callot's ''Balli di Sfessania'' (literally, dance of the buttocks) celebrates the commedia's blatant eroticism, with protruding phalli, spears posed with the anticipation of a comic ream, and grossly exaggerated masks that mix the bestial with human. The eroticism of the ''innamorate'' (lovers) including the baring of breasts, or excessive veiling, was quite in vogue in the paintings and engravings from the second School of Fontainebleau
The School of Fontainbleau (french: École de Fontainebleau) (c. 1530 – c. 1610) refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered on the royal Palace of Fontainebleau that were crucial in forming the No ...
, particularly those that detect a Franco-Flemish influence. Castagno demonstrates iconographic linkages between genre painting and the figures of the commedia dell'arte that demonstrate how this theatrical form was embedded within the cultural traditions of the late cinquecento.
Commedia dell'arte, ''disegno interno'', and the ''discordia concors''
Important corollaries exist between the ''disegno interno'', which substituted for the ''disegno esterno'' (external design) in Mannerist painting. This notion of projecting a deeply subjective view as superseding nature or established principles (perspective, for example), in essence, the emphasis away from the object to its subject, now emphasizing execution, displays of virtuosity, or unique techniques. This inner vision is at the heart of commedia performance. For example, in the moment of improvisation the actor expresses his virtuosity without heed to formal boundaries, decorum, unity, or text. Arlecchino
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally ...
became emblematic of the mannerist ''discordia concors'' (the union of opposites), at one moment he would be gentle and kind, then, on a dime, become a thief violently acting out with his battle. Arlecchino could be graceful in movement, only in the next beat, to clumsily trip over his feet. Freed from the external rules, the actor celebrated the evanescence of the moment; much the way Benvenuto Cellini would dazzle his patrons by draping his sculptures, unveiling them with lighting effects and a sense of the marvelous. The presentation of the object became as important as the object itself.
Neo-Mannerism
In the 20th century, the rise of Neo-Mannerism stemmed from artist Ernie Barnes
Ernest Eugene Barnes Jr. (July 15, 1938 – April 27, 2009) was an American artist, well known for his unique style of elongated characters and movement. He was also a professional football player, actor and author.
Early life
Childhood
E ...
. The style was heavily influenced by both the Jewish Community, as well as the African-American Community, leading to "The Beauty of the Ghetto" exhibition between 1972 - 1979. The Exhibition toured major American cities, and was hosted by dignitaries, professional athletes, and celebrities. When the exhibition was on view in 1974 at the Museum of African Art in Washington, DC, Rep. John Conyers stressed the important positive message of the exhibit in the '' Congressional Record''.
The style of Neo-Mannerism, as developed by Barnes, includes subjects with elongated limbs and bodies, as well as exaggerated movement. Another common theme was closed eyes of the subjects, as a visual representation of "how blind we are to one another's humanity". "We look upon each other and decide immediately: This person is black, so he must be ... This person lives in poverty, so he must be ...".
Theatre and cinema
In an interview, film director Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are th ...
mentions Federico Fellini and Bill Viola
Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...
as two major inspirations for his exhaustive and self-referential play with the insoluble tension between the database form of images and the various analogous and digital interfaces that structure them cinematically. This play can be called neo-mannerist precisely insofar as it is distinguished from the (neo-)baroque: "Just as Roman Catholicism would offer you paradise and heaven, there is an equivalent commercial paradise being offered very largely by the whole capitalistic effect, which is associated with Western cinema. This is my political analogy in terms of the use of multimedia as a political weapon. I would equate, in a sense, the great baroque Counter-Reformation, its cultural activity, with what cinema, American cinema predominantly, has been doing in the last seventy years."[Greenway, Peter. Interview, "Cinema of Ideas" with Henk Oosterling, 2001]
As a term of criticism
According to art critic Jerry Saltz
Jerry Saltz (born February 19, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for '' New York'' magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for ''The Village Voice'', he received the ...
, "Neo-Mannerism" (new Mannerism) is among several clichés that are "squeezing the life out of the art world". Neo-Mannerism describes art of the 21st century that is turned out by students whose academic teachers "have scared hem
A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...
into being pleasingly meek, imitative, and ordinary".
See also
* Counter-Maniera
Counter-''Maniera'' or Counter-Mannerism (variously capitalized and part-italicized) is a term in art history for a trend identified by some art historians in 16th-century Italian painting that forms a sub-category or phase of Mannerism, the dom ...
* Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland
Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland dominated between 1550 and 1650, when it was finally replaced with baroque. The style includes various mannerist traditions, which are closely related with ethnic and religious diversity of the count ...
* Template:Timeline of Italian artists to 1800, Timeline of Italian artists to 1800
* Mannerism in Brazil
Notes
References
*Apel, Willi. 1946–47. "The French Secular Music of the Late Fourteenth Century". ''Acta Musicologica'' 18: 17–29.
*Briganti, Giuliano. 1962. ''Italian Mannerism'', translated from the Italian by Margaret Kunzle. London: Thames and Hudson; Princeton: Van Nostrand; Leipzig: VEB Edition. (Originally published in Italian, as ''La maniera italiana'', La pittura italiana 10. Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1961).
*Carter, Tim. 1991. ''Music in Late Renaissance and Early Baroque Italy''. London: Amadeus Press.
*Castagno, Paul C. 1994. ''The Early Commedia Dell'arte (1550–1621): The Mannerist Context''. New York: P. Lang. .
*Cheney, Liana de Girolami (ed.). 2004. ''Readings in Italian Mannerism'', second printing, with a foreword by Craig Hugh Smyth. New York: Peter Lang. . (Previous edition, without the foreword by Smyth, New York: Peter Lang, 1997. ).
*Cox-Rearick, Janet. "Pontormo, Jacopo da." Grove Art Online.11 Apr 2019. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000068662.
*Davies, David, Greco, J. H Elliott, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and National Gallery (Great Britain). El Greco. London: National Gallery Company, 2003.
*Freedberg, Sidney J. 1965. "Observations on the Painting of the Maniera". Reprinted in Cheney 2004, 116–23.
*Freedberg, Sidney J. 1971. ''Painting in Italy, 1500–1600'', first edition. The Pelican History of Art. Harmondsworth and Baltimore: Penguin Books.
*Freedberg, Sidney J. 1993. ''Painting in Italy, 1500–1600'', 3rd edition, New Haven and London: Yale University Press. (cloth) (pbk)
*Walter Friedländer, Friedländer, Walter. 1965. ''Mannerism and Anti-Mannerism in Italian Painting''. New York: Schocken. LOC 578295 (First edition, New York: Columbia University Press, 1958.)
* Gombrich, E[rnst] H[ans]. 1995. ''The Story of Art'', sixteenth edition. London: Phaidon Press. .
*Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta. ''Arcimboldo : Visual Jokes, Natural History, and Still-Life Painting''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central.
*Lambraki-Plaka, Marina (1999). El Greco-The Greek. Kastaniotis. .
* Marchetti Letta, Elisabetta, Jacopo Da Pontormo, and Rosso Fiorentino. Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino. The Library of Great Masters. Antella, Florence: Scala, 199
* Marías, Fernando. 2003 "Greco, El." Grove Art Online. 2 April 2019. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000034199.
* Mirollo, James V. 1984. ''Mannerism and Renaissance Poetry: Concept, Mode, Inner Design''. New Haven: Yale University Press. .
*Nichols, Tom. Tintoretto : Tradition and Identity. London: Reaktion, 1999.
*John Shearman, Shearman, John K. G. 1967. ''Mannerism''. Style and Civilization. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Reprinted, London and New York: Penguin, 1990.
* Olson, Roberta J.M., ''Italian Renaissance Sculpture'', 1992, Thames & Hudson (World of Art),
*Smart, Alastair. The Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain. The Harbrace History of Art. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.
*Smyth, Craig Hugh. 1992. ''Mannerism and Maniera'', with an introduction by Elizabeth Cropper. Vienna: IRSA. .
*Summerson, John. 1983. ''Architecture in Britain 1530–1830'', 7th revised and enlarged (3rd integrated) edition. The Pelican History of Art.
Harmondsworth and New York: Penguin. (cased) (pbk) [Reprinted with corrections, 1986; 8th edition, Harmondsworth and New York: Penguin, 1991.]
*Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt Cothren. Art History. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2011.
Further reading
*Gardner, Helen Louise. 1972. ''The Metaphysical Poets, Selected and Edited,'' revised edition. Introduction. Harmondsworth, England; New York: Penguin Books. .
*Grossmann F. 1965. ''Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art: 1520–1600''. Manchester City Art Gallery
*Hall, Marcia B . 2001. ''After Raphael: Painting in Central Italy in the Sixteenth Century'', Cambridge University Press. .
*Pinelli, Antonio. 1993. ''La bella maniera: artisti del Cinquecento tra regola e licenza''. Turin: Piccola biblioteca Einaudi.
*Sypher, Wylie. 1955. ''Four Stages of Renaissance Style: Transformations in Art and Literature, 1400–1700''. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. A classic analysis of Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, and Late Baroque.
*Würtenberger, Franzsepp. 1963. ''Mannerism: The European Style of the Sixteenth Century''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston (Originally published in German, as ''Der Manierismus; der europäische Stil des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts''. Vienna: A. Schroll, 1962).
External links
"Mannerism: Bronzino (1503–1572) and his Contemporaries", on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website
{{Authority control
Mannerism,
Architectural styles
Art movements in Europe
Renaissance art
Mannerist architecture
Western art
16th century in art
17th century in art