Mannerism
is an artistic style that predominated in Italy beginning
in the 1520s, the end of the High Renaissance, to 1590,
the beginning of the Baroque period. Mannerism began in
Florence and Rome and spread to northern Italy and finally,
to much of central and Northern Europe.
The
High Renaissance was characterized by a naturalistic and
classical representation of the human form. This was evident
in the work of such painters as Leonardo, Michelangelo,
and Raphael. Mannerism arose as a reaction to this portrayal
of human beauty and body. Prominent Mannerists included
Giorgio Vasari, Daniel da Volterra, Francesco Salviati,
Domenico Beccafumi, Federico Zuccari, Pellegrino Tibaldi,
and most importantly Il Bronzino. The Mannerists focused
on the representation of the nude in complex and artificial
poses. The characters in their paintings often had elongated
limbs, small heads, and stylized facial features in the
midst of contrived positions. They valued continuous forms
and emphasized contrast and exaggeration. The result of
this was a fusion of intense and unnatural colours with
an emphasis on abnormalities of scale while mixing classical
motifs and bizarre fantasies.
Mannerism remained popular until Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio
became internationally popular at the beginning of the 17th
century. While Mannerism was blamed for the marked fall
of the High Renaissance because of its supposed anarchic
style.Unfortunately, this grandiose artistic style became
appreciated once again in the 20th century. Apparently its
representation of spiritual force and its complex scholarly
aestheticism, was also striking to the modern personality
as it had been in the Sixteenth century.
