Issues of Mannerism
The movement in painting that is now referred to as Mannerism began in Italy around 1520, influenced artists throughout Europe, and lasted until the end of the 16th century. The word Mannerism originates from the Italian word maniera which translates into the English word style. The basis of Mannerism then is style; it’s a period of art where the focus was on grace and beauty. While preceding trends of Renaissance art looked to nature to find their style, working to perfect it, Mannerists manipulated nature creating a gross perfection of human form, idealizing forms to the point of abstraction.
Definitions of Mannerist art as well as the reasons for its appearance as a movement are still contested today.
…show more content…
There is a cold, icy feel to the painting. Spidery forms spread across a dark sky, and the figures are agitated yet rigid. Even the drapery appears hard, the folds look brittle and ready to crack. The light that bathes the figures and the colors of clothing are brilliant but unreal which reinforces the bad dream feel. Beginning with Mannerism, art begins to become more about the artist than the subject or the person who commissioned it. The pain and distress of Fiorentino is apparent in his work.
In his book Mannerism and Maniera, Craig Smyth explains the belief that Mannerist style was connected with the desire for experimentation and creating art for art’s sake rather than a spiritual crisis of the period. Smyth also believes that what is usually considered the anti-classical style of Mannerism is based on classical style specifically antique relief. He suggests that Mannerists connected with the idealization of classical art. Smyth says, "the classic solution kept painters feeling at one with them, not in the opposition" (27).
Influenced by the figures of an antique relief, the figures in Pontormo’s Deposition appear to be molded out of stone; graceful linear rhythms are created by the intertwined geometric forms. The claustrophobic staging of the figures and the way they are all pushed up the front of the canvas closely resembles the unrealistic space of a relief. Pontormo’s forms have a sculptural solidity and cold gray flesh
After the ride and fall of High Renaissance came the style known as Mannerism. This style involved developing artist individual style, artificial, aesthetically fantastic images and breaking away from tradition including Renaissance. Mannerism was inspired by the
The Renaissance began in the 1300’s and brought with it many new ideas and ways of thinking. The main one of these ideas being humanism, or that the best that a man can be is greater than the idea of theology. The Italians began to spread this idea and it began to grow. The Italians decided that the best way to express and spread the idea of humanism during the Renaissance was through their sculptures and paintings. This can be seen in many works of art from this time period such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The School of Athens by Raphael, and Michelangelo's David.
This painting is much more sensual than Giorgione’s painting due to Titian’s because he engages the woman with the audience by making her look straightforwardly at the audience and his use of chiaroscuro (Grabski, Józef).
Another characteristic of this period is the lack of distinct or realistic perspective in renderings. Michelangelo was one of the first artist who pioneered the Mannerism at the Laurentian Library in Florence Italy according to Britannica (2012). One such painting that employed the Mannerism characteristics such as eroticism and obscure imagery is the "Madonna with the Long Neck" painted by Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, also known as Parmigianino (Artble, 2012). In 1520 the humanistic model of the classical Renaissance such as the serenity, beauty, and order began to break down as a negative world view began to emerge due to machinations and wars of Spain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire. (Ozarks, 2012)
This paper examined in detail the reasoning, evidence from a claim that Robert Florczak arguing Why is modern art so bad? Robert florczak is an American artists and illustrator with many years of experience in field of art. The motive of the speech is to convince the art community of the ineffectiveness of modern art. The speaker uses a compare and contrast method during his speech between western and modern art. To show differences between the two, he illustrates his ability to back up his argument with evidence. He uses rhetorical analysis techniques such as, ethos, pathos, and logos to build on various point of views to strength his point. The speaker could achieve the overall purpose of the speech in convincing the art community of the
In addition to, Italian Mannerism is a style of later Renaissance art, in which depicts a “self- conscious stylization involving caprice, complexity fantasy and polish (Kleiner ) .” Mannerism is the reaction to the features of the High Renaissance style. This style, can be seen as a rejection of classical themes of harmony and balance that are represented by Renaissance art pieces. Paintings in the mannerist style can be seen as an “exaggeration” or a parody of previous works, such as the Pieta executed by Michelangelo. Similar to other styles, Mannerism includes characteristics which make the style intricate. These characteristics include
Along with the different kinds of techniques of art, a shift in artistic themes occurred due to a change in the artist’s perception of life and their values. The Renaissance is an era that was home to some of the most influential artists of all time – Michelangelo Buonarotti, Raffaello Sanzio, and Leonardo di Vinci were few of the many. One main characteristic
The first principle of aestheticism is that art serves no other purpose than to offer beauty. Physical appearance was extremely important in the Victorian era. Victorians trusted in physical appearance who believed that one’s face and figure able to disclose inner intentions and emotions of the person as attire reveals one’s occupation. Aesthetic movement traditional Victorian concept
The engulfing size of the painting (250.5 x 159.5 cm) drives the audiences mind into a hypnotic frenzy as they are overwhelmed by bright and sensual colours, which, have the ability to evoke deep emotions and realisations. Kandinsky has portrayed this through the disorientation of his own personal visions of society during the industrial revolution. The rough yet expressive outline of buildings, a rainbow and the sun gives reference to realism as it allows viewers to connect and understand underlying motifs and shapes yet is painted abstractly to move away from the oppressive and consumerist society. Thus, Kandinsky breaks boundaries through his innovative approach to his art-making practise concluded from his personal belief of ‘art for arts sake’. He believed that art should mainly convey the artist’s personal views and self-expressionism that translated a constant individuality throughout his work from an inner intentional emotive drive. This broke traditional boundaries as art in the renaissance period was meant to be a ‘narration’ or an artwork where an audience could learn and benefit from. This is evidently shown in Composition IV as it exemplifies Kandinsky’s inner feelings towards the industrialised society
The Deposition from the Cross (Entombment of Christ) by Jacopo Pontormo was completed in 1528 and originally resided in the Florence Charterhouse as the main altarpiece. With it’s distinct iconography, the work was intended to show the public the raw suffering of Christ after his sacrifice and how those around him felt at the time of his death. It holds an uplifting and even hopeful tone with it’s “sour” color palette, a stable for the Mannerist movement.
The painting "The Assumption of the Virgin" has a mannerism influence. Mannerism was a XVI century art style influenced by, and at the same time a reaction to, the harmonious ideals of the Italian High Renaissance. Mannerism is notable for its artificial ( as opposed to naturalistic ) qualities which favor compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting.
The feel of the picture lends to emotions of unease and recognition of sexual innuendo. The colors of the painting are vibrant, but for the most part are dark. The heavy tones and shades of the colors are well balanced throughout the piece. It can be noted that the brightest shades of color are found on areas depicting the actual woman. In areas that are understood as landscape, the colors are more dreary and create a sense of instability. Even Hess observes that the
The renaissance or “rebirth” was a cultural awakening which spanned from the fourteenth to sixteenth century. A growing interest in humanist traits and classical ideas heavily influenced the art during the renaissance. A growing community of artists provided much needed competition for their profession. The renaissance introduced many different and modern ideas but also remained obedient to classical belief. The unique art of the renaissance spread throughout Europe. Northern European art differed tremendously from Italian art.
The shapes of the figures are sharply defined and the objects such as the table, book, and string instruments. There are diagonal rhythms throughout the painting in which it creates movement. The light source in the upper left allows the source light to have a more natural appearance throughout the painting. The shadows at the right-hand corner and the men wearing green in the middle contrast the main object with the most sources of lighting. The objects shadows and lighting create dimension and a vivid sense of more contrast. There are areas in the making with more contrast and the sharp contrast that creates movement in the painting. The shadows and the lighting throughout the painting show gradations and the highlights create more depth. Staring from the upper-left hand corner with the first figure of a gentleman wearing a hue of blue and yellow, the left side of his face and garment shows the source light in right above him. The source light above the
Modernism has found new expressions in art which in turn have changed how people critic and understand art, in this essay I am going to focus more on abstract expressionism. Debates in this movement have gone as far as influencing many artists and the two well-known critics who have made this movement more remarkable and have changed the art world completely are Clement Greenberg and Ronald Rosenberg. On the writings of these two gentlemen about art I will try to draw out the differences in the idea of what abstract expressionism is and what it is supposed to be, compare and outline the similarities and the differences between the two critics.