Mannerism - Overview from Phil Hansen

When you first look at a Mannerist painting, you may be tempted to think that it is a product of the Italian Renaissance and you would be right. Mannerism is a period of art that emerged from the High Renaissance in Italy and is also known as The Late Renaissance period lasted from approximately 1520 to 1580. The influence of the Renaissance style is clear and paintings from the Mannerist movement have figures of religion and mythology, rich colors and careful details, everything you would expect from art of this era. but when you look again you discover that something is a little wrong on closer inspection you realize that the figures are distorted no one's neck is that long no human can hold that distorted pose no one's skin is that shiny the lines are a little exaggerated they are not and the geographical surroundings are not clear the space is strange, that's when you realize that this is not Renaissance art, this is

mannerism

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The Mannerists knew what they were doing when they created these slightly strange images and presented them as genuine distorting elements, such as scale and perspective. subtly adding drama whenever they could was exactly the look they were going for. The name Mannerism comes directly from the first known art historian. Giorgio lazatti. Giorgio himself was a mannerist artist and used the Italian term maniera meaning style in his encyclopedia to describe the period. in which he worked, many art historians believe that the Mannerists commented on customs, proper style or art, proper anatomy, and even proper Christian virtues. Heurists drew inspiration from Renaissance artists on issues such as bright colors, fine details, and detail.

They focused on individualism and the human form, but they applied these ideas in a way that transformed their style. Mannerist artists departed from the Renaissance mathematician Anna Tom Michal's ideals of spatial and even scenic perfection by breaking these rules and depicting unrealistic body proportions, poses, colors, and settings. They opened up imaginative possibilities for juxtaposing scenes, vibrant colors and perfect elegance. Mannerist paintings are often filled with tension rather than depicting an important scene or action. They often show the moment just before the action takes place. Consider Tintoretto and his painting of the Last Supper depicted from almost an offstage vantage point.

It is darker and more suspenseful than da Vinci's most famous painting of the same scene. The lighting is harsher and more surreal. There are more figures. to the sides and distorted poses and elongated angels look down from above all the distinctly Mannerist features Raphael and Michelangelo, well-known painters of the Italian Renaissance, were also among the first artists to experiment with painting in a Mannerist style. Francesco Missoula, better known as a Parmigiano, followed the example of these Renaissance heroes and became one of the first characteristically Mannerist Parmigiano self-portrait painters. in a convex mirror shows the artist painting his own distorted figure Jacopo Pontormo's burial painting features an abnormally elongated Christ and surrounding figures leaning and posed uncomfortably unlike many Renaissance paintings the burial is not didactic with a specific dogmatic message in mind, but invites contemplation and opens El Greco began his painting career near Venice, but fully developed his talent after moving to Spain.

Known for his intensely emotional depictions of religious scenes in El Greco's The Baptism of Christ, the viewer's gaze is drawn to every corner of the painting and the painting's postures and dramatic lighting create a sense of movement and urgency as it occurs with most tendencies in the exaggeration of

mannerism

. It lasted only a while, at the end of the 16th century it gave way to the less strange, more detailed and more theatrical arts of the Baroque movement that you know.