Mannerism

Mannerism was a style of art which dominated European painting from about 1520 to 1600. It originated in the city of Florence as a reaction against Renaissance art. It became dominant all over Europe except England where it was never popular or widely practiced until after 1600 when it evolved into Baroque style. Mannerists tended to use complex compositions and distorted figures in order to express a feeling or mood. It developed as an attempt by artists to return art from the naturalistic depiction of Renaissance art, which had come before it, into an expressionist art form that was more emotional and nuanced. Mannerism began during a time when religion was taking a back seat to the humanist virtues of classical antiquity. People were beginning to think about art in a different way. It was not only mere decoration, but it represented ideas and emotions as well. Mannerism reflected this change in thinking by employing religious themes for inspiration but not always depicting them realistically. Mannerist paintings generally used complex compositions and distorted figures. Some pieces depict an entire scene using only one point of view instead of the normal Renaissance perspective. These compositions often included elongated limbs and exaggerated facial expressions. Mannerist painters employed these techniques to express ideas related to human emotion such as anxiety, depression, or loneliness. Mannerism was an exceptionally individualistic style of art that did not always conform to the canons established by the Church of Rome. In fact, many artists who produced Mannerist works were called before the church to explain their actions. Artists got around this by admitting that they had included some religious content in their work, even though it was not always depicted realistically. Mannerism was also an anti-establishment style of art because it did not follow the Renaissance ideals. It purposely set out to disturb those ideals, with the intention of replacing them with a new and different way of looking at religious themes through paintings. Mannerism was started by artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael, but they eventually abandoned it in favor of the more naturalistic style of art produced by their student, Caravaggio.