Mannerism
History & Style of Art Movement Following the High Renaissance in Sixteenth Century.
Visual Arts Guide

Mannerism Style of Art (c.1520-1600)

Mannerism, denoting the era in Italian art between the High Renaissance and the Baroque, is derived from the Italian word 'maniera' meaning style or stylishness.

The qualities associated with Mannerist art include: tension, emotionalism, elongation of the human figure, strained poses, unusual effects of scale, lighting or perspective, vivid often lurid colours. In simple terms, Mannerist art contained more! More movement, more expression, more drama, more sensuality, more colour - more of almost everything. It also reflected the political scene following the sack of Rome in 1527.

During the mid-late 16th century, Mannerism spread throughout Europe, manifesting itself in Britain by the elegant artificiality of Elizabethan court painting.

Artists Of The Mannerist School

Among the greatest artists of the Mannerist style, following the High Renaissance, were: Michelangelo (see his Last Judgement fresco in the Sistine Chapel); Giorgio Vasari (a second rank painter but fine writer - of works like Lives of the Artists (1550) - and architect who designed the Uffizi art gallery in Florence); Giovanni da Bologna, better known as Giambologna (one of the most famous artists and creator of sculpture like The Fountain of Neptune, Samson Slaying a Philistine and The Rape of the Sabines); Parmagianino (the influential master draftsman and portraitist from Parma); Antonio Correggio (known for his sentimental narrative paintings and the first artist to portray light radiating from the child Christ); Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto (one of the great drawing experts and a prolific composer of large religious painting executed in the grand manner verging on the Baroque); Domenikos Theotocopoulos, better known as El Greco (the Venice-trained Greek artist who worked in Spain, known for his highly individualistic style of art reflecting his vision of Christianity and worldly meaning).

For a look-back at the earlier periods of Italian art, see: Proto-Renaissance era, and Early Renaissance. For a list of painters and sculptors, see: Giotto and Artists of the Early Renaissance, and Artists of the High Renaissance.

• For other art movements and periods, see: History of Art.
• For styles of painting and sculpture in Ireland, see: Irish Art

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