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Overview
What is Mannerism?
c. 1520 – 1600Period
Rome and Florence, ItalyBegan in
12Key artists on this page
12Works with free images
9Museums to visit
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance 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 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, Raphael, Vasari, 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. 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.From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Original Art Movements text
This is the text that appeared on this page on the original Art Movements site. It is kept for reference; some statements are simplified or out of date. Where it differs from the overview, characteristics and dates above, which are checked against Wikipedia and Wikidata, trust those instead.
Artists of the Early Renaissance and the High Renaissance developed their characteristic styles from the observation of nature and the formulation of a pictorial science. When Mannerism matured after 1520(The year Raphael died), all the representational problems had been solved. A body of knowledge was there to be learned. Instead of nature as their teacher, Mannerist artists took art. While Renaissance artists sought nature to find their style, the Mannerists looked first for a style and found a manner.
In Mannerist paintings, compositions can have no focal point, space can be ambiguous, figures can be characterized by an athletic bending and twisting with distortions, exaggerations, an elastic elongation of the limbs, bizarre posturing on one hand, graceful posturing on the other hand, and a rendering of the heads as uniformly small and oval. The composition is jammed by clashing colors, which is unlike what we’ve seen in the balanced, natural, and dramatic colors of the High Renaissance. Mannerist artwork seeks instability and restlessness. There is also a fondness for allegories that have lascivious undertones.
The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533 · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Period
c. 1520 – 1600
Began in
Rome and Florence, Italy
Key artists
El Greco, Jacopo Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Related
Classicism, Baroque, Renaissance
How to recognise it
Key characteristics of Mannerism
Elongated, graceful figures with small heads
Twisting, complicated poses (the 'figura serpentinata')
Crowded or ambiguous space instead of clear Renaissance perspective
Unusual, sometimes acid colours
Sophistication and artifice valued over natural balance
Timeline
When was Mannerism?
Mannerism is usually dated c. 1520 – 1600, beginning in Rome and Florence, Italy. Dates for art movements are approximate: artists joined and left, and styles overlapped.
A late-Renaissance style of elongated figures, complex poses and artificial elegance.
When was Mannerism?
Mannerism: c. 1520 – 1600. It began in Rome and Florence, Italy. Dates for art movements are approximate.
What are the main characteristics of Mannerism?
Elongated, graceful figures with small heads; Twisting, complicated poses (the 'figura serpentinata'); Crowded or ambiguous space instead of clear Renaissance perspective; Unusual, sometimes acid colours; Sophistication and artifice valued over natural balance.
Who are the most famous Mannerism artists?
El Greco, Jacopo Tintoretto, Paolo Veronese, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Benvenuto Cellini.
What are some famous Mannerism works?
The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger; The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese; The Burial of the Count of Orgaz by El Greco; View of Toledo by El Greco; Bacchus by Caravaggio.
Where can I see Mannerism art?
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, United States), Uffizi Gallery (Florence, Italy), Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria), National Gallery (London, United Kingdom), Department of Paintings of the Louvre (France) hold works shown on this page.
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