Mannerism Art History

The Mannerism period started in 1520 and ended in 1600 – it was an art style that depicted the human form in exaggerated poses, in unrealistic settings. The art period is essentially the late Renaissance as it followed the Hight Renaissance art period. The term Mannerism was developed through the Italian word maniera – which means style. The Mannerist art movement first appeared in Florence and Rome, and was a style that rejected the Renaissance period in favor of a more emotional approach to art with a sometimes distorted point of view. The Mannerist style conveyed the tension in Europe in the 1500’s , and gained even more popularity later in northern Italy and central and northern Europe. Characteristic paintings of Mannerism included artificial colors, unrealistic proportions, off beat perspective, complex composition, and exaggerated or elongated figures. Perhaps the most famous Mannerist artists are Raphael and Michelangelo - artists that achieved technical accomplishments and theatrical, forumalic, and stylized work. Figures in Mannerist paintings were often in imaginary poses creating an unsettling and strange piece of art – the eerie images reflected the period’s conflict with the Reformation, the sack of Rome, and the plague. By the 1600’s Mannerist painters were accused of disrupting the unity and balance of Renaissance classicism but in actuality, Mannerism created a valuable link between the Renaissance period and the emotional Baroque movement that followed in the 17th century.

Famous Mannerist artists, sculptors and architects include:

Allori, Alessandro
Ammanati, Bartolommeo
Anguissola, Lucia
Anguissola, Sofonisba
Arcimboldo, Giuseppe
Bandinelli, Baccio
Bassano, Leandro
Beccafumi, Domenico
Bernini, Pietro
Giambologna
Giulio Romano (Giulio di Pietro de'Gianuzzi)
Il Cerano (Giovanni Battista Crespi)
Il Nosadella (Giovanni Francesco Bezzi)
Il Pordenone (Giovanni Antonio de Sacchis)
Ligorio, Pirro
Machietti, Girolamo (di Francesco di Mariotto)
Maderno, Stefano
Bronzino, Agnolo di Cosimo
Buonarroti, Michelangelo
Cambiaso, Luca
Carneo, Antonio
Cattaneo, Danese
Cellini, Benvenuto
Cesari, Giuseppe (Cavaliere d'Arpino)
Correggio
Daniele da Volterra (Daniele Ricciarelli)
Danti, Vincenzo
dell'Abbate, Niccolò
El Greco
Scipione (il Gaetano)
Rosso Fiorentino
Pontormo (Jacopo Carucci)
Primaticcio, Francesco
Salviati, Francesco
San Friano, Maso da (Tommaso Manzuoli)
Sansovino, Jacopo
Savoldo, Giovanni Girolamo
Tintoretto (Jacopo Robusti)
Tosini, Michele (Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio)
Tribolo, Niccolo
Vasari, Giorgio
Veronese, Paolo Caliari
Vittoria, Alessandro
Zuccaro, Federico
Zuccaro, Taddeo
Mariani, Camillo
Mastelletta (Giovanni Andrea Donducci)
Mochi, Francesco
Moroni, Giovanni Battista
Palladio, Andrea
Palma Giovane
Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Mazzola)
Parodi, Filippo
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
Pino, Marco (Marco da Siena)
Polidoro da Caravaggio (Polidoro Caldara)
Pulzone