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Mannerism can be divided in two periods: Early Mannerism and High Mannerism. Text by Cristina Motta. Mannerism came after the High Renaissance and before the Baroque. Not every artist painting during this period is considered a Mannerist artist, however, and there is much debate among scholars over whether Mannerism should be considered a separate movement from the High Renaissance, or a stylistic phase of the High Renaissance.
Mannerism will be treated as a separate art movement here as there are many differences between the High Renaissance and the Mannerist styles. What makes a work of art Mannerist? First we must understand the ideals and goals of the Renaissance. During the Renaissance artists were engaging with classical antiquity in a new way.
In addition, they developed theories on perspective , and in all ways strived to create works of art that were perfect, harmonious, and showed ideal depictions of the natural world.
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo are considered the artists who reached the greatest achievements in art during the Renaissance. The Renaissance stressed harmony and beauty and no one could create more beautiful works than the great three artists listed above.
The artists who came a generation after had a dilemma; they could not surpass the great works that had already been created by da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when we start to see Mannerism emerge.
Younger artists trying to do something new and different began to reject harmony and ideal proportions in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms. Jacopo da Pontormo — represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist style.
Take for example his Deposition from the Cross , an altarpiece that was painted for a chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita, Florence.
This lack of clarity on subject matter is a hallmark of Mannerist painting. In addition, the setting is irrational, almost as if it is not in this world, and the colors are far from naturalistic. This work could not have been produced by a Renaissance artist. The Mannerist movement stresses different goals and this work of art by Pontormo demonstrates this new, and different style.
Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross , , Church of Santa Felicita, Florence : This work of art by Pontormo demonstrates the hallmarks of the Mannerist style: unclear subject matter, irrational setting, and artificial colors. Mannerism emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance, and is notable for its sophisticated and artificial qualities.
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance. It began around and lasted until about in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to be favored. Stylistically, Mannerist painting encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals and restrained naturalism associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo.
Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial as opposed to naturalistic qualities. There is an existing debate between scholars as to whether Mannerism was its own, independent art movement, or if it should be considered as part of the High Renaissance.
Mannerism developed in both Florence and Rome. The early Mannerist painters in Florence—especially Jacopo da Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino, both students of Andrea del Sarto—are notable for using elongated forms, precariously balanced poses, a collapsed perspective, irrational settings, and theatrical lighting.
These artists had matured under the influence of the High Renaissance, and their style has been characterized as a reaction or exaggerated extension of it. In other words, instead of studying nature directly, younger artists began studying Hellenistic sculptures and paintings of masters past.
Jacopo da Pontormo, Entombment, , Santa Felicita, Florence : This work by Pontormo exemplifies early Mannerist paintings—the setting is irrational, the human forms are elongated and balanced in twisted poses, and the coloring of the work is artificial, as opposed to naturalistic.
Indeed, Michelangelo himself displayed tendencies towards Mannerism, notably in his vestibule to the Laurentian Library, in the figures on his Medici tombs, and above all the Sistine Chapel. Maniera artists held their elder contemporary Michelangelo as their prime example; theirs was an art imitating art, rather than an art imitating nature. Maniera art combines exaggerated elegance with exquisite attention to surface and detail: porcelain-skinned figures recline in an even, tempered light, regarding the viewer with a cool glance, if at all.
A number of the earliest Mannerist artists who had been working in Rome during the s fled the city after the Sack of Rome in As they spread out across the continent in search of employment, their style was distributed throughout Italy and Europe.
The result was the first international artistic style since the Gothic style including French, English, and Dutch Mannerism styles. The style waned in Italy after , as a new generation of artists, including the Carracci brothers, Caravaggio and Cigoli, reemphasized naturalism.
Mannerist sculpture, like Mannerist painting, was characterized by elongated forms, spiral angles, twisting poses, and aloof subject gazes.
Additionally, Mannerist sculptors worked in precious metals much more frequently than sculptors of the High Renaissance. Figura serpentinata Italian: serpentine figure is a style in painting and sculpture that is typical of Mannerism. It is similar, but not identical, to contrapposto, and often features figures in spiral poses. Early examples can be seen in the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The Mannerist style of sculpture began to create a form in which figures showed physical power, passion, tension, and semantic perfection.
The answer? The new style first popped up in Florence and Rome, then the rest of Italy and, eventually, all over Europe. Mannerism, a phrase coined in the 20th century, is what happened artistically during the "Late" Renaissance otherwise known as the years between Raphael's death and the beginning of the Baroque phase in Mannerism also represents Renaissance art going out, as they say, not with a bang but, rather, a relative whimper.
The High Renaissance was, of course, astonishing. It represented a peak, a height, a veritable zenith if you will of artistic genius that surely must have owed something to a favorable zodiac. In fact, the only downside to the whole business was, with the Big Three Names diminished to one Michelangelo after , where was art to go? It almost seemed as if art itself said "Oh, what the hey. We could never top the High Renaissance, so why bother?
It's not fair, though, to completely blame art for its loss of momentum after the High Renaissance. There were, as there always are, mitigating factors.
For example, Rome was sacked in , taken over by the armies of Charles V. By all accounts, he was not particularly interested in sponsoring art or artists—especially not Italian artists. Neither was he enamored with the idea of the independent city-states of Italy, and most of them lost their independent status. Additionally, a troublemaker named Martin Luther had been stirring things up in Germany, and the spread of his radical preaching was causing many to question the authority of the Church.
The Church, of course, found this absolutely intolerable. Its response to the Reformation was to launch the Counter Reformation, a joyless, restrictive authoritative movement which had a zero-tolerance policy toward Renaissance innovations among many, many other things. So here was poor art, deprived of most of its genius, patrons, and freedom.
If Mannerism seems a bit half-posteriored to us now, it was honestly about the best that could be expected under the circumstances. On the plus side, artists had gained lots of technical knowledge during the Renaissance such as the use of oil paints and perspective which would never again be lost to a "dark" age. Another new development at this time was rudimentary archaeology.
The Mannerist artists now had actual works, from antiquity, to study.
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