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{{Short description|Artistic style in Europe and colonies, c. 1550–1600}}
{{for|behavior|Mannerism (behavior)}}
{{redirect|Mannerists|the Greek vase painting|Mannerists (Greek vase painting)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
[[File: Parmigianino - Madonna dal collo lungo - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|In [[Parmigianino]]'s ''[[Madonna with the Long Neck]]'' (1534–1540), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and lack of clear perspective.]]

'''Mannerism''' is a [[Style (visual arts)|style]] in [[Art of Europe|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.{{sfn|Freedberg|1971|p=483}}<!--If this statement can be found in the third edition of 1993, it would be preferable to cite from that edition, which is cited elsewhere in this same article.-->

Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Raphael]], [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mannerism|url=https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/mannerism.html|access-date=2021-12-03|website=www.nga.gov|archive-date=3 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203172309/https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/mannerism.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Notable for its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zino/hd_zino.htm |title=Mannerism: Bronzino (1503–1572) and his Contemporaries|publisher= Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=19 May 2013}}</ref> this artistic style privileges compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting. Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continue to be a subject of debate among art historians. For example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature (especially poetry) and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is also used to refer to some late [[Gothic art|Gothic]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of GOTHIC |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Gothic |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}</ref> painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530, especially the [[Antwerp Mannerism|Antwerp Mannerists]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antwerp Mannerists {{!}} art {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Antwerp-Mannerists |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>—a group unrelated to the Italian movement. Mannerism has also been applied by analogy to the [[Silver Age of Latin literature]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/93691/the-mannerist-style-and-the-lamentation|title=the-mannerist-style|publisher=artsconnected.org|access-date=9 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620114456/http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/93691/the-mannerist-style-and-the-lamentation|archive-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
[[File:Laocoön and his sons group.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Model for Mannerism: ''[[Laocoön and His Sons]]'', an ancient sculpture, rediscovered in 1506; now in the [[Vatican Museums]]. The artists of Mannerism greatly admired this piece of sculpture.<ref name="ReferenceC" />]]

The word "Mannerism" derives from the Italian ''maniera'', meaning "style" or "manner". Like the English word "style", ''maniera'' can either indicate a specific type of style (a beautiful style, an abrasive style) or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification (someone "has style").<ref>
John Shearman, "Maniera as an Aesthetic Ideal", in Cheney 2004, p. 37.</ref> In the second edition of his ''[[Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects]]'' (1568), [[Giorgio Vasari]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Artist Info |url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.3269.html |access-date=2022-05-06 |website=www.nga.gov}}</ref> used ''maniera'' in three different contexts: to discuss an artist's manner or method of working; to describe a personal or group style, such as the term ''maniera greca'' to refer to the medieval [[Italo-Byzantine]] style or simply to the ''maniera'' of Michelangelo; and to affirm a positive judgment of artistic quality.<ref>Cheney 1997, p. 17.<!--The pagination may be different in the 1997 edition from the 2004 one found as the main entry in the reference list. Be sure the right one is being cited. Ideally, only one edition should be cited unless there is information in the earlier missing in the later edition.--></ref> Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as "la maniera moderna", or the "modern style".{{sfn|Briganti|1962|p=6}} James V. Mirollo describes how "Bella maniera" poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of [[Petrarch]].{{sfn|Mirollo|1984|p={{Page needed|date=June 2010}}}} This notion of "Bella maniera" suggests that artists who were thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, rather than confronting nature directly. In essence, "Bella maniera" utilized the best from several source materials, synthesizing it into something new.{{sfn|Mirollo|1984|p={{Page needed|date=June 2010}}}}

As a stylistic label, "Mannerism" is not easily defined. It was used by Swiss historian [[Jacob Burckhardt]] and popularized by German [[Art history|art historians]] in the early 20th century to categorize the seemingly uncategorizable art of the Italian 16th century—art that was no longer found to exhibit the harmonious and rational approaches associated with the High Renaissance. "High Renaissance" connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur, and the revival of classical antiquity. The term "Mannerist" was redefined in 1967 by [[John Shearman]]{{sfn|Shearman|1967}} following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by [[Fritz Grossmann]] at [[Manchester Art Gallery|Manchester City Art Gallery]] in 1965.{{sfn|Grossmann|1965}}

Yet historians differ as to whether Mannerism is a style, a movement, or a period. Some authors have called it the "Late Renaissance".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Moffett|first1=Marian|last2=Fazio|first2=Michael W.|last3=Wodehouse|first3=Lawrence|title=A World History of Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFMohetegAcC&pg=PT330|year=2003|publisher=Laurence King Publishing|isbn=978-1-85669-371-4|page=330}}; {{cite book|last=Bousquet|first=Jacques|title=Mannerism: The Painting and Style of the Late Renaissance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHzqAAAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=Braziller}}</ref> Although the term remains controversial, it is still commonly used to identify European art and culture in the 16th century.<ref>
Cheney{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}<!--Two different editions of Cheney are cited in this article; the year of the edition meant here is needed.-->, "Preface", xxv–xxxii, and Manfred Wundram, "Mannerism," ''Grove Art Online''. Oxford University Press, [accessed 23 April 2008].</ref>

==Origin and development==
By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis:<ref name="ReferenceC" /> It seemed that everything that could be achieved was already achieved. No more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, [[physiognomy]] and how humans register emotion in expression and gesture, the innovative use of the human form in figurative composition, and the use of the subtle gradation of tone, all had reached near perfection. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-brilliant-neurotics-of-the-late-renaissance/|title=The brilliant neurotics of the late Renaissance|date=17 May 2014|website=The Spectator|language=en-US}}</ref> At this point Mannerism started to emerge.<ref name="ReferenceC" /> The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence, or in Rome, or both cities simultaneously.{{sfn|Freedberg|1993|pp=175–177}}
[[File:Michelangelo, Separation of the Earth from the Waters 00.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Collected figures, ''[[ignudi]]'', from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling]]

===Origins and models===
This period has been described as a "natural extension"<ref name="ReferenceB" /> of the art of [[Andrea del Sarto]], Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo developed his style at an early age, a deeply original one that was greatly admired at first, then often copied and imitated by other artists of the era.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his ''[[terribilità]]'', a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> Other artists learned Michelangelo's impassioned and highly personal style by copying the works of the master, a standard way that students learned to paint and sculpt. His [[Sistine Chapel ceiling]] provided examples for them to follow, in particular his representation of collected figures often called ''[[ignudi]]'' and of the [[Libyan Sibyl]], his [[vestibule (Architecture)|vestibule]] to the [[Laurentian Library]], the figures on his [[Medici Chapel (Michelangelo)|Medici tombs]], and above all his ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|Last Judgment]]''. The later Michelangelo was one of the great models of Mannerism.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> Young artists broke into his house and stole drawings from him.<ref name="autogenerated1">Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.</ref> In his book ''Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', Giorgio Vasari noted that Michelangelo stated once: "Those who are followers can never pass by whom they follow".<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

====The competitive spirit====
The competitive spirit was cultivated by patrons who encouraged sponsored artists to emphasize virtuosic technique and to compete with one another for commissions. It drove artists to look for new approaches and dramatically illuminated scenes, elaborate clothes and compositions, elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and a lack of clear perspective. [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Michelangelo]] were each given a commission by [[Gonfaloniere of Justice|Gonfaloniere]] [[Piero Soderini]] to decorate a wall in the [[Palazzo Vecchio|Hall of Five Hundred]] in Florence. These two artists were set to paint side by side and compete against each other,<ref name="Battle of Cascina">{{cite web |last1=Redazione |title=The Battle of Cascina: when Michelangelo competed with Leonardo da Vinci. |url=https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/works-and-artists/the-battle-of-cascina-when-michelangelo-competed-with-leonardo-da-vinci |website=Finestre sull' Arte |publisher=Danae Project srl. |access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref> fueling the incentive to be as innovative as possible.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
{| style="margin:auto;"
|-
!
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|[[File:La batalla de Cascina - Sangallo.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=copy of lost painting that had been by Michelangelo|Copy after lost original, Michelangelo's ''Battaglia di Cascina'', by [[Bastiano da Sangallo]], originally intended by Michelangelo to compete with Leonardo's entry for the same commission]]
|[[File:Peter Paul Ruben's copy of the lost Battle of Anghiari.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=copy of lost painting that had been by Leonardo da Vinci|Copy after lost original, [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s ''[[The Battle of Anghiari (Leonardo)|Battaglia di Anghiari]]'', by [[Rubens]], originally intended by Leonardo to compete with Michelangelo's entry for the same commission]]
|}

===Early mannerism===
[[File:Jacopo Pontormo 004.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Jacopo Pontormo]], ''Entombment'', 1528; [[Santa Felicita, Florence]]]]
The early Mannerists in Florence—especially the students of [[Andrea del Sarto]] such as [[Jacopo da Pontormo]] and [[Rosso Fiorentino]]—are notable for elongated forms, precariously balanced poses, a collapsed perspective, irrational settings, and theatrical lighting. [[Parmigianino]] (a student of [[Antonio da Correggio|Correggio]]) and [[Giulio Romano (painter)|Giulio Romano]] (Raphael's head assistant) were moving in similarly stylized aesthetic directions in Rome. These artists had matured under the influence of the High Renaissance, and their style has been characterized as a reaction to or exaggerated extension of it. Instead of studying nature directly, younger artists began studying Hellenistic sculpture and paintings of masters past. Therefore, this style is often identified as "anti-classical",<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Friedländer |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Friedländer |url=https://archive.org/details/mannerismantiman00frie/page/n5/mode/2up?q=%22anti%22 |title=Mannerism and Anti-Mannerism in Italian Painting |publisher=[[Schocken Books]] |year=1965 |pages=48 |isbn=978-0-8052-0094-2 |url-access=registration}}</ref> yet at the time it was considered a natural progression from the High Renaissance. The earliest experimental phase of Mannerism, known for its "anti-classical" forms, lasted until about 1540 or 1550.{{sfn|Freedberg|1993|pp=175–177}} [[Marcia B. Hall]], professor of art history at Temple University, notes in her book ''After Raphael'' that Raphael's premature death marked the beginning of Mannerism in Rome.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In past analyses, it has been noted that mannerism arose in the early 16th century contemporaneously with a number of other social, scientific, religious and political movements such as the [[Copernican heliocentrism]], the [[Sack of Rome in 1527]], and the [[Protestant Reformation]]'s increasing challenge to the power of the Catholic Church. Because of this, the style's elongated forms and distorted forms were once interpreted as a reaction to the idealized compositions prevalent in High Renaissance art.<ref name="grove">Manfred Wundram, "Mannerism," Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, [accessed 23 April 2008].</ref> This explanation for the radical stylistic shift {{Circa|1520}} has fallen out of scholarly favor, though early Mannerist art is still sharply contrasted with High Renaissance conventions; the accessibility and balance achieved by Raphael's ''[[The School of Athens|School of Athens]]'' no longer seemed to interest young artists.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===High maniera===
The second period of Mannerism is commonly differentiated{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} from the earlier, so-called "anti-classical" phase.
Subsequent mannerists stressed intellectual conceits and artistic virtuosity, features that have led later critics to accuse them of working in an unnatural and affected "manner" (''maniera''). Maniera artists looked to their older contemporary Michelangelo as their principal model; theirs was an art imitating art, rather than an art imitating nature. Art historian [[Sydney Joseph Freedberg]] argues that the intellectualizing aspect of maniera art involves expecting its audience to notice and appreciate this visual reference—a familiar figure in an unfamiliar setting enclosed between "unseen, but felt, quotation marks".{{sfn|Freedberg|1965|p=191}} The height of artifice is the Maniera painter's penchant for deliberately misappropriating a quotation. [[Agnolo Bronzino]] and [[Giorgio Vasari]] exemplify this strain of Maniera that lasted from about 1530 to 1580. Based largely at courts and in intellectual circles around Europe, Maniera art couples exaggerated elegance with exquisite attention to surface and detail: porcelain-skinned figures recline in an even, tempered light, acknowledging the viewer with a cool glance, if they make eye contact at all. The Maniera subject rarely displays much emotion, and for this reason works exemplifying this trend are often called 'cold' or 'aloof.' This is typical of the so-called "stylish style" or ''Maniera'' in its maturity.{{sfn|Shearman|1967|p=19}}

==Spread ==
[[File:Henry Howard Earl of Surrey 1546.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|English Mannerism: [[Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey]], 1546, a rare English Mannerist portrait by a Flemish immigrant]]

The cities Rome, Florence, and Mantua were Mannerist centers in Italy. [[Venetian painting]] pursued a different course, represented by [[Titian]] in his long career. A number of the earliest Mannerist artists who had been working in Rome during the 1520s fled the city after the [[Sack of Rome (1527)|Sack of Rome]] in 1527. As they spread out across the continent in search of employment, their style was disseminated throughout Italy and Northern Europe.{{sfn|Briganti|1962|pp=32–33}} The result was the first international artistic style since the [[Gothic art|Gothic]].{{sfn|Briganti|1962|p=13}} Other parts of Northern Europe did not have the advantage of such direct contact with Italian artists, but the Mannerist style made its presence felt through prints and illustrated books. European rulers, among others, purchased Italian works, while northern European artists continued to travel to Italy, helping to spread the Mannerist style. Individual Italian artists working in the North gave birth to a movement known as the [[Northern Mannerism]]. [[Francis I of France]], for example, was presented with [[Bronzino]]'s ''[[Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time]]''. The style waned in Italy after 1580, as a new generation of artists, including the [[Accademia degli Incamminati|Carracci]] brothers, [[Caravaggio]] and [[Cigoli]], revived naturalism. [[Walter Friedlaender]] identified this period as "anti-mannerism", just as the early Mannerists were "anti-classical" in their reaction away from the aesthetic values of the High Renaissance<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|page=14}} and today the Carracci brothers and [[Caravaggio]] are agreed to have begun the transition to Baroque-style painting which was dominant by 1600.

Outside of Italy, however, Mannerism continued into the 17th century. In France, where Rosso traveled to work for the court at [[School of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]], it is known as the "[[Henry II style]]" and had a particular impact on architecture. Other important continental centers of [[Northern Mannerism]] include the court of [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]] in [[Prague]], as well as [[Haarlem]] and [[Antwerp]]. Mannerism as a stylistic category is less frequently applied to [[England|English]] visual and decorative arts, where native labels such as "[[Elizabethan]]" and "[[Jacobean era|Jacobean]]" are more commonly applied. Seventeenth-century [[Artisan Mannerism]] is one exception, applied to architecture that relies on pattern books rather than on existing precedents in Continental Europe.{{sfn|Summerson|1983|pp=157–172}}

Of particular note is the Flemish influence at Fontainebleau that combined the eroticism of the French style with an early version of the [[vanitas]] tradition that would dominate seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish painting. Prevalent at this time was the ''pittore vago'', a description of painters from the north who entered the workshops in France and Italy to create a truly international style.

==Sculpture==
As in painting, early Italian Mannerist sculpture was very largely an attempt to find an original style that would top the achievement of the [[High Renaissance]], which in sculpture essentially meant Michelangelo, and much of the struggle to achieve this was played out in commissions to fill other places in the [[Piazza della Signoria]] in Florence, next to [[Michelangelo]]'s ''[[David (Michelangelo)|David]]''. [[Baccio Bandinelli]] took over the project of ''[[Hercules and Cacus]]'' from the master himself, but it was little more popular then than it is now, and maliciously compared by [[Benvenuto Cellini]] to "a sack of melons", though it had a long-lasting effect in apparently introducing relief panels on the [[pedestal]] of statues. Like other works of his and other Mannerists, it removes far more of the original block than Michelangelo would have done.<ref>Olson, pp. 179–182.</ref> Cellini's bronze ''[[Perseus with the Head of Medusa]]'' is certainly a masterpiece, designed with eight angles of view, another Mannerist characteristic, and artificially stylized in comparison with the ''David''s of Michelangelo and Donatello.<ref>Olson, pp. 183–187.</ref> Originally a goldsmith, his famous gold and enamel [[Cellini Salt Cellar|Salt Cellar]] (1543) was his first sculpture, and shows his talent at its best.<ref>Olson, pp. 182–183.</ref>

Small bronze figures for collector's [[Cabinet (room)|cabinets]], often mythological subjects with nudes, were a popular Renaissance form at which [[Giambologna]], originally [[Flanders|Flemish]] but based in Florence, excelled in the later part of the century. He also created life-size sculptures, of which two entered the collection in the Piazza della Signoria. He and his followers devised elegant elongated examples of the ''[[figura serpentinata]]'', often of two intertwined figures, that were interesting from all angles.<ref>Olson, pp. 194–202.</ref>

<gallery widths="230px" heights="230px" perrow="4">
File:1993-1994-Giardino Giusti (Verona)-testo e photo Paolo Villa-nB08 Cortile-Statua di Apollo - scultura Arte Manierista - parete di rampicanti - Kodak EktachromeElite 100 5045 EB 100.jpg|[[Apollo]]'s sculpture, [[Palazzo Giusti]], Verona, Mannerism art with typical ''[[contrapposto]]''
File:Fontainebleau escalier roi.jpg|[[Stucco]] [[overdoor]] at [[palace of Fontainebleau|Fontainebleau]], probably designed by [[Francesco Primaticcio|Primaticcio]], who painted the oval inset, 1530s or 1540s
File:03 2015 Perseo con la testa di Medusa-Benvenuto Cellini-Piazza della Signoria-Loggia dei Lanzi-volta a crociera-ordine corinzio (Firenze) Photo Paolo Villa FOTO9260.JPG|Benvenuto Cellini, ''[[Perseus with the Head of Medusa]]'', 1545–1554
File:Samson slaying a philistine.jpg|[[Giambologna]], ''Samson Slaying a Philistine'', about 1562
File:Giambologna raptodasabina.jpg|Giambologna, ''[[Abduction of a Sabine Woman]]'', completed in 1583, Florence, 13' 6" high, [[marble]]
File:Devries-mercuriocrop.jpg|[[Adriaen de Vries]], ''Mercury and Psyche'', [[Northern Mannerism|Northern Mannerist]] life-size bronze, made in 1593 for [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor]]
</gallery>

==Early theorists==
[[File:Pietro Francavilla - Apollo Victorious over the Python - Walters 27302.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Pietro Francavilla]], ''Apollo Victorious over the Python'', 1591. [[The Walters Art Museum]].]]

===Giorgio Vasari===
[[Giorgio Vasari]]'s opinions about the art of painting emerge in the praise he bestows on fellow artists in his multi-volume ''[[Lives of the Artists]]'': he believed that excellence in painting demanded refinement, richness of invention (''invenzione''), expressed through virtuoso technique (''maniera''), and wit and study that appeared in the finished work, all criteria that emphasized the artist's intellect and the patron's sensibility. The artist was now no longer just a trained member of a local Guild of St Luke. Now he took his place at court alongside scholars, poets, and humanists, in a climate that fostered an appreciation for elegance and complexity. The coat-of-arms of Vasari's [[Medici]] patrons appears at the top of his portrait, quite as if it were the artist's own. The framing of the woodcut image of Vasari's ''Lives'' would be called "[[Jacobean era|Jacobean]]" in an English-speaking milieu. In it, Michelangelo's Medici tombs inspire the anti-architectural "architectural" features at the top, the papery pierced frame, the satyr nudes at the base. As a mere frame it is extravagant: Mannerist, in short..

===Gian Paolo Lomazzo===
Another literary figure from the period is [[Gian Paolo Lomazzo]], who produced two works—one practical and one metaphysical—that helped define the Mannerist artist's self-conscious relation to his art. His ''Trattato dell'arte della pittura, scoltura et architettura'' (Milan, 1584) is in part a guide to contemporary concepts of [[decorum]], which the Renaissance inherited in part from Antiquity but Mannerism elaborated upon. Lomazzo's systematic codification of aesthetics, which typifies the more formalized and academic approaches typical of the later 16th century, emphasized a consonance between the functions of interiors and the kinds of painted and sculpted decors that would be suitable. Iconography, often convoluted and abstruse, is a more prominent element in the Mannerist styles. His less practical and more metaphysical ''Idea del tempio della pittura'' (''The ideal temple of painting'', Milan, 1590) offers a description along the lines of the "[[four temperaments]]" theory of human nature and personality, defining the role of individuality in judgment and artistic invention.

== Characteristics of artworks ==
Mannerism was an anti-classical movement which differed greatly from the aesthetic ideologies of the [[Renaissance]].<ref name=":1" /> Though Mannerism was initially accepted with positivity based on the writings of [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]],<ref name=":1" /> it was later regarded in a negative light because it solely view as "an alteration of natural truth and a trite repetition of natural formulas."<ref name=":1" /> As an artistic moment, Mannerism involves many characteristics that are unique and specific to experimentation of how art is perceived. Below is a list of many specific characteristics that Mannerist artists would employ in their artworks.
* Elongation of figures: often Mannerist work featured the elongation of the human figure – occasionally this contributed to the bizarre imagery of some Mannerist art.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain|last=Smart|first=Alastair|publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich|year=1972|location=New York|pages=118}}</ref>
* Distortion of perspective: in paintings, the distortion of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]] explored the ideals for creating a perfect space. However, the idea of perfection sometimes alluded to the creation of unique imagery. One way in which distortion was explored was through the technique of [[foreshortening]]. At times, when extreme distortion was utilized, it would render the image nearly impossible to decipher.<ref name=":2" />
* Black backgrounds: Mannerist artists often utilized flat black backgrounds to present a full contrast of contours in order to create dramatic scenes. Black backgrounds also contributed to a creating sense of fantasy within the subject matter.<ref name=":2" />
* Use of darkness and light: many Mannerists were interested in capturing the essence of the night sky through the use of intentional illumination, often creating a sense of fantasy scenes. Notably, special attention was paid to torch and moonlight to create dramatic scenes.<ref name=":2" />
* Sculptural forms: Mannerism was greatly influenced by sculpture, which gained popularity in the sixteenth century. As a result, Mannerist artists often based their depictions of human bodies in reference to sculptures and prints. This allowed Mannerist artists to focus on creating dimension.<ref name=":2" />
* Clarity of line: the attention that was paid to clean outlines of figures was prominent within Mannerism and differed largely from the [[Baroque]] and [[High Renaissance]].The outlines of figures often allowed for more attention to detail.<ref name=":2" />
*[[Composition (visual arts)|Composition]] and space: Mannerist artists rejected the ideals of the [[Renaissance]], notably the technique of [[one-point perspective]]. Instead, there was an emphasis on atmospheric effects and distortion of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]]. The use of space in Mannerist works instead privileged crowded compositions with various forms and figures or scant compositions with emphasis on black backgrounds.<ref name=":2" />
* Mannerist movement: the interest in the study of human movement often lead to Mannerist artists rendering a unique type of movement linked to [[Figura serpentinata|serpentine positions]]. These positions often anticipate the movements of future positions because of their often-unstable motions figures. In addition, this technique attributes to the artist's experimentation of form.<ref name=":2" />
* Painted frames: in some Mannerist works, painted frames were utilized to blend in with the background of paintings and at times, contribute to the overall composition of the artwork. This is at times prevalent when there is special attention paid to ornate detailing.<ref name=":2" />
* Atmospheric effects: many Mannerists utilized the technique of [[sfumato]], known as, "the rendering of soft and hazy contours or surfaces"<ref name=":2" /> in their paintings for rendering the streaming of light.<ref name=":2" />
* Mannerist colour: a unique aspect of Mannerism was in addition to the experimentation of form, composition, and light, much of the same curiosity was applied to color. Many artworks toyed with pure and intense [[hue]]s of blues, green, pinks, and yellows, which at times detract from the overall design of artworks, and at other times, complement it. When painting the figure, artists would often emphasize the lightness of complexions and utilize undertones of blue.<ref name=":2" />

==Artists and examples of their work==
[[File:Persus wiewael.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Joachim Wtewael]] ''Perseus and Andromeda'', 1616, Louvre, the composition displaying a ''Vanité'' of bones and seashells in the foreground and an elaborate academic nude with a palette borrowing from the foreground for Andromeda's cheeks. The dragon seems to have [[Chinese dragon|Chinese]] influence.]]

===Jacopo da Pontormo===
[[Pontormo|Jacopo da Pontormo]]'s work is one of the most important contributions to Mannerism.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000068662.|title=Pontormo, Jacopo da.|last=Cox-Rearick|first=Janet|website=Grove Art Online|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> He often drew his subject matter from religious narratives; heavily influenced by the works of Michelangelo,<ref name=":0" /> he frequently alludes to or uses sculptural forms as models for his compositions.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino|last=Marchetti Letta, Elisabetta|date=1995|publisher=Constable|isbn=0094745501|pages=6|oclc=642761547}}</ref> A well-known element of his work is the rendering of gazes by various figures which often pierce out at the viewer in various directions.<ref name=":1" /> Dedicated to his work, Pontormo often expressed anxiety about its quality and was known to work slowly and methodically.<ref name=":1" /> His legacy is highly regarded, as he influenced artists such as [[Agnolo Bronzino]] and the aesthetic ideals of late Mannerism.<ref name=":0" />

Pontormo's ''Joseph in Egypt'', painted in 1517,<ref name=":1" /> portrays a running narrative of four Biblical scenes in which [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] reconnects with his family. On the left side of the composition, Pontomoro depicts a scene of Joseph introducing his family to the [[Pharaoh]] of [[Egypt]]. On the right, Joseph is riding on a rolling bench, as cherubs fill the composition around him in addition to other figures and large rocks on a path in the distance. Above these scenes, is a spiral staircase which Joseph guides one his sons to their mother at the top. The final scene, on the right, is the final stage of Jacob's death as his sons watch nearby.<ref name=":1" />

Pontormo's ''Joseph in Egypt'' features many Mannerist elements. One element is utilization of incongruous colors such as various shades of pinks and blues which make up a majority of the [[Canvas painting|canvas]]. An additional element of Mannerism is the incoherent handling of time about the story of Joseph through various scenes and use of space. Through the inclusion of the four different narratives, Ponotormo creates a cluttered composition and overall sense of busyness.

===Rosso Fiorentino and the School of Fontainebleau===
[[Rosso Fiorentino]], who had been a fellow pupil of Pontormo in the studio of [[Andrea del Sarto]], in 1530 brought Florentine Mannerism to [[Fontainebleau]], where he became one of the founders of French 16th-century Mannerism, popularly known as the [[School of Fontainebleau]].

The examples of a rich and hectic decorative style at Fontainebleau further disseminated the Italian style through the medium of [[engraving]]s to [[Antwerp]], and from there throughout Northern Europe, from London to Poland. Mannerist design was extended to luxury goods like silver and carved furniture. A sense of tense, controlled emotion expressed in elaborate symbolism and [[allegory]], and an ideal of female beauty characterized by elongated proportions are features of this style.

===Agnolo Bronzino===
[[File:Angelo Bronzino - Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time - National Gallery, London.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|High Mannerism: ''[[Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time]]'' by [[Bronzino]], {{circa|1545}}; [[National Gallery|National Gallery, London]]]]
[[Bronzino|Agnolo Bronzino]] was a pupil of Pontormo,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Bronzino|last1=Cecchi|first1=Alessandro|last2=Bronzino|first2=Agnolo|last3=vans|first3=Christopher E|publisher=The Library of Great Masters|year=1996|location=Antella, Florence|pages=20}}</ref> whose style was very influential and often confusing in terms of figuring out the attribution of many artworks.<ref name=":3" /> During his career, Bronzino also collaborated with [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]] as a [[Scenic design|set designer]] for the production "Comedy of Magicians", where he painted many [[portrait]]s.<ref name=":3" /> Bronzino's work was sought after, and he enjoyed great success when he became a [[court painter]] for the [[House of Medici|Medici]] family in 1539.<ref name=":3" /> A unique Mannerist characteristic of Bronzino's work was the rendering of milky [[complexion]]s.<ref name=":3" />

In the painting, ''[[Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time]]'', Bronzino portrays an erotic scene that leaves the viewer with more questions than answers. In the foreground, [[Cupid]] and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] are nearly engaged in a kiss, but pause as if caught in the act. Above the pair are mythological figures, [[Father Time]] on the right, who pulls a curtain to reveal the pair and the representation of the [[Nyx|goddess of the night]] on the left. The composition also involves a grouping of masks, a [[Hybrid beasts in folklore|hybrid creature]] composed of features of a girl and a serpent, and a man depicted in agonizing pain. Many theories are available for the painting, such as it conveying the dangers of [[syphilis]], or that the painting functioned as a [[Royal court|court]] game.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Stokstad |first1=Marilyn |url=https://archive.org/details/arthistoryvolume00stok_027 |title=Art History |last2=Cothren |first2=Michael Watt |publisher=Pearson/Prentice Hall |year=2011 |isbn=9780205744220 |location=Upper Saddle River, New Jersey |pages=[https://archive.org/details/arthistoryvolume00stok_027/page/n176 663] |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Mannerist portraits by Bronzino are distinguished by a serene elegance and meticulous attention to detail. As a result, Bronzino's sitters have been said to project an aloofness and marked emotional distance from the viewer. There is also a virtuosic concentration on capturing the precise pattern and sheen of rich textiles. Specifically, within the ''Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time'', Bronzino utilizes the tactics of Mannerist movement, attention to detail, color, and sculptural forms. Evidence of Mannerist movement is apparent in the awkward movements of Cupid and Venus, as they contort their bodies to partly embrace. Particularly, Bronzino paints the complexion with the many forms as a perfect porcelain white with a smooth effacement of their muscles which provides a reference to the smoothness of sculpture.

===Alessandro Allori===
[[Alessandro Allori]]'s (1535–1607) ''Susanna and the Elders'' (''below'') is distinguished by latent eroticism and consciously brilliant still life detail, in a crowded, contorted composition.

===Jacopo Tintoretto===
[[File:Jacopo Tintoretto - The Last Supper - WGA22649.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Jacopo Tintoretto]], ''[[Last Supper (Tintoretto)|Last Supper]]'', 1592–1594]]
[[Tintoretto|Jacopo Tintoretto]] has been known for his vastly different contributions to [[Venetian school (art)|Venetian painting]] after the legacy of [[Titian]]. His work, which differed greatly from his predecessors, had been criticized by [[Giorgio Vasari|Vasari]] for its, "fantastical, extravagant, bizarre style."<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Tintoretto : tradition and identity|last=Nichols, Tom|isbn=9781780234816|pages=234|oclc=970358992|date=1 October 2015|publisher=Reaktion Books }}</ref> Within his work, Tintoretto adopted Mannerist elements that have distanced him from the classical notion of Venetian painting, as he often created artworks which contained elements of fantasy and retained [[Naturalism (art)|naturalism]].<ref name=":4" /> Other unique elements of Tintoretto's work include his attention to color through the regular utilization of rough brushstrokes<ref name=":4" /> and experimentation with pigment to create illusion.<ref name=":4" />

An artwork that is associated with Mannerist characteristics is the ''[[Last Supper (Tintoretto)|Last Supper]]''; it was commissioned by Michele Alabardi for the [[San Giorgio Maggiore (church), Venice|San Giorgio Maggiore]] in 1591.<ref name=":4" /> In Tintoretto's ''Last Supper'', the scene is portrayed from the angle of group of people along the right side of the composition. On the left side of the painting, [[Jesus|Christ]] and the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] occupy one side of the table and single out [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]]. Within the dark space, there are few sources of light; one source is emitted by Christ's [[Halo (religious iconography)|halo]] and hanging torch above the table.

In its distinct composition, the ''Last Supper'' portrays Mannerist characteristics. One characteristic that Tintoretto utilizes is a black background. Though the painting gives some indication of an interior space through the use of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]], the edges of the composition are mostly shrouded in shadow which provides drama for the central scene of the ''Last Supper''. Additionally, Tintoretto utilizes the spotlight effects with light, especially with the halo of Christ and the hanging torch above the table. A third Mannerist characteristic that Tintoretto employs are the atmospheric effects of figures shaped in smoke and float about the composition.

===El Greco===
[[File:El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) - Laocoön - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|[[El Greco]], ''[[Laocoön (El Greco)|Laocoön]]'' ({{circa|1610–1614}}), [https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.33253.html National Gallery of Art] ]]
The [[Crete|Cretan]]-born Spanish painter [[El Greco]] attempted to express religious emotion with exaggerated traits. After the realistic depiction of the human form and the mastery of perspective achieved in High Renaissance, some artists started to deliberately distort proportions in disjointed, irrational space for emotional and artistic effect. El Greco still is a deeply original artist. He has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school.<ref name="ReferenceB" /> Key aspects of Mannerism in El Greco include the jarring "acid" palette, elongated and tortured anatomy, irrational perspective and light, and obscure and troubling iconography.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg29/gg29-over1.html |title= El Greco |publisher=National Gallery of Art |access-date=19 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/hd_grec.htm |title= El Greco (1541–1614) |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |first1=Keith |last1=Christiansen |date=October 2004 |access-date=19 May 2013}}</ref> El Greco's style was a culmination of unique developments based on his Greek heritage and travels to Spain and Italy.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000034199|title=Greco, El|last=Marías|first=Fernando|date=2003|website=Grove Art Online |doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T034199 |doi-access=free |isbn=978-1-884446-05-4 |access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref>

El Greco's work reflects a multitude of styles including [[Byzantine art|Byzantine]] elements as well as the influence of [[Caravaggio]] and [[Parmigianino]] in addition to [[Venetian school (art)|Venetian coloring]].<ref name=":5" /> An important element is his attention to color as he regarded it to be one of the most important aspects of his painting.<ref>{{Cite book|title=El Greco-The Greek|last=Lambraki-Plaka|first=Marina|year=1999|isbn=960-03-2544-8|location=Kastaniotis.|pages=47–49 |publisher=Ekdoseis Kastaniōtē }}</ref> Over the course of his career, El Greco's work remained in high demand as he completed important commissions in locations such as the [[Palacio del Senado (Spain)|Colegio de la Encarnación de Madrid]].<ref name=":5" />

El Greco's unique painting style and connection to Mannerist characteristics is visible in his ''[[Laocoön (El Greco)|Laocoön]]''. Painted in 1610,<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=El Greco|last1=Davies|first1=David|last2=Greco|first2=J. H|author3=Metropolitan Museum of Art|author4=National Gallery|publisher=National Gallery Company|year=2003|location=London|pages=245}}</ref> it depicts the mythological tale of [[Laocoön]], who warned the [[Trojan War|Trojans]] about the danger of the [[Trojan Horse|wooden horse]] which was presented by the Greeks as peace offering to the goddess [[Minerva]]. As a result, Minerva retaliated in revenge by summoning serpents to kill Laocoön and his two sons. Instead of being set against the backdrop of [[Troy]], El Greco situated the scene near [[Toledo, Spain]] in order to "universalize the story by drawing out its relevance for the contemporary world."<ref name=":6" />

El Greco's unique style in ''Laocoön'' exemplifies many Mannerist characteristics. Prevalent is the elongation of many of the human forms throughout the composition in conjunction with their serpentine movement, which provides a sense of elegance. An additional element of Mannerist style is the atmospheric effects in which El Greco creates a hazy sky and blurring of landscape in the background.

===Benvenuto Cellini===

[[File: Salt Cellar.jpg |thumb| ''[[Cellini Salt Cellar]]'', made for [[Francis I of France]], 1540–1543. ]]

[[Benvenuto Cellini]] created the ''[[Cellini Salt Cellar]]'' of gold and enamel in 1540 featuring [[Poseidon]] and [[Amphitrite]] (water and earth) placed in uncomfortable positions and with elongated proportions. It is considered a masterpiece of Mannerist sculpture.
[[File:Minerva dressing by Lavinia Fontana (1613).jpg|thumb|''Minerva Dressing'' (1613) by [[Lavinia Fontana]] (1552–1614). [[Galleria Borghese]], Rome.]]

=== Lavinia Fontana ===
[[Lavinia Fontana]] (1552–1614) was a Mannerist portraitist often acknowledged to be the first female career artist in Western Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Murphy |first=Caroline |title=Lavinia Fontana: a painter and her patrons in sixteenth-century Bologna |date=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0300099134 |location=New Haven, Connecticut |oclc=50478433}}</ref> She was appointed to be the Portraitist in Ordinary at the [[Holy See|Vatican]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Self-portraits by women painters |date=2000|publisher=Ashgate|first=Liana |last=Cheney |editor1=Alicia Craig Faxon |editor2=Kathleen Lucey Russo |isbn=1859284248|location=Aldershot, Hants, England|oclc=40453030}}</ref> Her style is characterized as being influenced by the [[The Carracci|Carracci family]] of painters by the colors of the Venetian School. She is known for her portraits of noblewomen, and for her depiction of nude figures, which was unusual for a woman of her time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lavinia Fontana's nude Minervas |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Lavinia+Fontana%27s+nude+Minervas.-a0464162808 |access-date=10 March 2019 |website=www.thefreelibrary.com}}</ref>

===Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari)===
[[Taddeo Zuccari|Taddeo Zuccaro]] was born in [[Sant'Angelo in Vado]], near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccari, an almost unknown painter. His brother [[Federico Zuccari|Federico]], born around 1540, was also a painter and architect.

===Federico Zuccaro (or Zuccari)===
[[Federico Zuccari|Federico Zuccaro]]'s documented career as a painter began in 1550, when he moved to Rome to work under [[Taddeo Zuccari|Taddeo]], his elder brother. He went on to complete decorations for [[Pius IV]], and help complete the fresco decorations at the [[Villa Farnese|Villa Farnese at Caprarola]]. Between 1563 and 1565, he was active in [[Venice]] with the [[Grimani family|Grimani]] family of Santa Maria Formosa. During his Venetian period, he traveled alongside [[Andrea Palladio|Palladio]] in Friuli.

===Joachim Wtewael===
[[Joachim Wtewael]] (1566–1638) continued to paint in a [[Northern Mannerist]] style until the end of his life, ignoring the arrival of the [[Baroque art]], and making him perhaps the last significant Mannerist artist still to be working. His subjects included large scenes with still life in the manner of [[Pieter Aertsen]], and mythological scenes, many small [[cabinet painting]]s beautifully executed on copper, and most featuring nudity.

===Giuseppe Arcimboldo===
[[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]] is most readily known for his artworks that incorporate [[still life]] and [[portrait]]ure.<ref name=":7" /> His style is viewed as Mannerist with the assemblage style of fruits and vegetables in which its composition can be depicted in various ways—right side up and upside down.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Arcimboldo|last=Kaufmann|first=Thomas DaCosta|date=2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226426877|pages=167|doi = 10.7208/chicago/9780226426884.001.0001}}</ref> Arcimboldo's artworks have also applied to Mannerism in terms of humor that it conveys to viewers, because it does not hold the same degree of seriousness as Renaissance works.<ref name=":7" /> Stylistically, Arcimboldo's paintings are known for their attention to nature and concept of a "monstrous appearance".<ref name=":7" />

One of Arcimboldo's paintings which contains various Mannerist characteristics is, ''[[Vertumnus (Arcimboldo)|Vertumnus]]''. Painted against a black background is a portrait of [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor|Rudolf II]], whose body is composed of various vegetables, flowers, and fruits.<ref name=":7" /> The joke of the painting communicates the humor of power which is that Emperor Rudolf II is hiding a dark inner self behind his public image.<ref name=":7" /> On the other hand, the serious tone of the painting foreshadows the good fortune that would be prevalent during his reign.<ref name=":7" />

''Vertumnus'' contains various Mannerist elements in terms of its composition and message. One element is the flat, black background which Arcimboldo utilizes to emphasize the status and identity of the Emperor, as well as highlighting the fantasy of his reign. In the portrait of Rudolf II, Arcimboldo also strays away from the [[Realism (arts)|naturalistic]] representation of the Renaissance, and explores the construction of composition by rendering him from a jumble of fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers. Another element of Mannerism which the painting portrays is the dual narrative of a joke and serious message; humor wasn't normally utilized in Renaissance artworks.

<gallery widths="230" heights="230" perrow="4">
File:Jacopo Pontormo 032.jpg|[[Pontormo|Jacopo Pontormo]], ''Joseph in Egypt'', 1515–1518, oil on wood, 96 x 109&nbsp;cm, [[National Gallery]], London
File:Fontainebleau interior francois I gallery 02.JPG|[[Rosso Fiorentino]], Francois I Gallery, ''[[Palace of Fontainebleau|Château de Fontainebleau]]'', France
File:AN00056627 001 l Caraglio Juno in niche.jpg|[[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] in a niche, [[engraving]] by [[Jacopo Caraglio]], probably from a drawing of 1526 by Rosso Fiorentino
File:Bibliotekarien konserverad - Skoklosters slott - 97136.tif|[[Giuseppe Arcimboldo]], ''[[The Librarian (Arcimboldo)|The Librarian]]'', 1562, [[Skokloster Castle]]
File:Arcimboldo, Giuseppe ~ Autumn, 1573, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.jpg|Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ''Autumn'', 1573, oil on canvas, Louvre Museum, Paris
File:Vertumnus årstidernas gud målad av Giuseppe Arcimboldo 1591 - Skoklosters slott - 91503.jpg|Giuseppe Arcimboldo, ''Vertumnus the god of seasons'', 1591, [[Skokloster Castle]]
File:Angelo Bronzino 037.jpg|[[Bronzino]], ''[[Portrait of Bia de' Medici]]'', {{circa|1545}}
File:Alessandro Allori - Susanna and The Elders - WGA00186.jpg|[[Alessandro Allori]], ''Susanna and the Elders'', 1561
File:Elgreco.christ.200pix.jpg|[[El Greco]], ''Baptism'', {{circa|1614}}
</gallery>

==Architecture==
[[File:Haarlem Vleeshal1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Vleeshal]] in [[Haarlem]], Netherlands]]
[[File:Piękne niebo nad ratuszem w Zamościu.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|The Town Hall in [[Zamość]], Poland, designed by [[Bernardo Morando]]]]
Mannerist architecture was characterized by visual trickery and unexpected elements that challenged the [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] norms.<ref name=vanda>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/style-guide-mannerism/ |title=Style Guide: Mannerism  |date= 19 December 2012|publisher=Victoria and Albert |access-date=11 January 2015}}</ref> Flemish artists, many of whom had traveled to Italy and were influenced by Mannerist developments there, were responsible for the spread of Mannerist trends into Europe north of the Alps, including into the realm of architecture.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Art|last=Wundram|first=Manfred|publisher=Grove|year=1996|pages=281}}</ref> During the period, architects experimented with using architectural forms to emphasize solid and spatial relationships. The Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to freer and more imaginative rhythms. The best known architect associated with the Mannerist style, and a pioneer at the [[Laurentian Library]], was [[Michelangelo]] (1475–1564).<ref>{{cite book|last=Peitcheva|first=Maria|title=Michelangelo: 240 Colour Plates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vSfOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2|year=2016|publisher=StreetLib|isbn=978-88-925-7791-6|page=2}}</ref> He is credited with inventing the [[giant order]], a large pilaster or column that stretches from the bottom to the top of a multi-storey façade.<ref>{{verify source|date=July 2014}}{{cite journal |title=Pilaster Play |first=Mark |last=Jarzombek |journal=Thresholds |url=http://web.mit.edu/mmj4/www/downloads/thresholds28.pdf |volume=28 |date=Winter 2005 |pages=34–41 |doi=10.1162/thld_a_00320 |author-link=Mark Jarzombek |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722211914/http://web.mit.edu/mmj4/www/downloads/thresholds28.pdf }}</ref> He used this in his design for the [[Capitoline Hill#Michelangelo|Piazza del Campidoglio]] in Rome. The [[Herrerian style]] ({{langx|es|estilo herreriano}} or ''arquitectura herreriana'') of [[architecture]] was developed in [[Spain]] during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]] (1556–1598),<ref name=Arteespana>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arteespana.com/arquitecturaherreriana.htm|title=Arquitectura Herreriana|language=es|website=www.arteespana.com|access-date=2019-01-05}}</ref> and continued in force in the 17th century, but transformed by the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque style]] of the time. It corresponds to the third and final stage of the [[Spanish Renaissance]] architecture, which evolved into a progressive purification ornamental, from the initial [[Plateresque]] to classical [[Purism (architecture)|Purism]] of the second third of the 16th century and total nudity decorative that introduced the Herrerian style.

Prior to the 20th century, the term ''Mannerism'' had negative connotations, but it is now used to describe the historical period in more general, non-judgmental terms.<ref>Arnold Hauser. ''Mannerism: The Crisis of the Renaissance and the Origins of Modern Art''. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1965).</ref> Mannerist architecture has also been used to describe a trend in the 1960s and 1970s that involved breaking the norms of modernist architecture while at the same time recognizing their existence.<ref name=venturi/> Defining Mannerism in this context, architect and author [[Robert Venturi]] wrote "Mannerism for architecture of our time that acknowledges conventional order rather than original expression but breaks the conventional order to accommodate complexity and contradiction and thereby engages ambiguity unambiguously."<ref name=venturi>{{cite web |url=http://designtheory.fiu.edu/readings/venturi_architecture_as_signs.pdf |title=Architecture as Signs and Systems |last1=Venturi |first1=Robert |access-date=11 January 2015 |archive-date=15 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015210624/http://designtheory.fiu.edu/readings/venturi_architecture_as_signs.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Renaissance examples===

An example of Mannerist architecture is the [[Villa Farnese]] at [[Caprarola]],<ref>Coffin, David, ''The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome'', Princeton University Press, 1979. pp. 281–285.</ref> in the rugged countryside outside of Rome. The proliferation of engravers during the 16th century spread Mannerist styles more quickly than any previous styles.

Dense with ornament of "Roman" detailing, the display doorway at [[Colditz Castle]] exemplifies the northern style, characteristically applied as an isolated "set piece" against unpretentious vernacular walling.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

From the late 1560s onwards, many buildings in [[Valletta]], the new capital city of [[Malta]], were designed by the architect [[Girolamo Cassar]] in the Mannerist style. Such buildings include [[Saint John's Co-Cathedral|St. John's Co-Cathedral]], the [[Grandmaster's Palace, Valletta|Grandmaster's Palace]] and the seven original [[Langue (Knights Hospitaller)#Valletta|auberges]]. Many of Cassar's buildings were modified over the years, especially in the [[Baroque]] period. However, a few buildings, such as [[Auberge d'Aragon]] and the exterior of St. John's Co-Cathedral, retain most of Cassar's original Mannerist design.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ellul |first1=Michael |title=In search of Girolamo Cassar: An unpublished manuscript at the State Archives of Lucca |journal=Melita Historica |date=2004 |volume=XIV |issue=1 |page=37 |url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Melita%20Historica/MH.14(2004-07)/MH.14(2004)1/02.pdf |issn=1021-6952 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313191703/http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Melita%20Historica/MH.14%282004-07%29/MH.14%282004%291/02.pdf |archive-date=13 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<gallery widths="230">
File:Palazzo Te Mantova 1.jpg|One of the best examples of Mannerist architecture: [[Palazzo del Te|Palazzo Te]] in [[Mantua]], designed by [[Giulio Romano (painter)|Giulio Romano]]
File:3538MantovaPalazzoDucale.jpg|Giulio Romano, [[Ducal Palace, Mantua]]
File:3579MantovaCasaGiulioRomano.jpg|Own house of Giulio Romano, in [[Mantua]]
File:Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne.jpg|[[Baldassare Peruzzi]], [[Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne]], in Rome
Biblioteca medicea laurenziana, vestibolo e scala di michelangelo, 03,.jpg|[[Michelangelo]], vestibule of [[Laurentian Library]]
File:St Johns Co-Cathedral.jpg|[[Saint John's Co-Cathedral|St. John's Co-Cathedral]], in [[Valletta]], Malta
File:Catedral Basílica Salvador 2019-6527.jpg|[[Cathedral Basilica of Salvador]], Brazil, built between 1657 and 1746, a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]<ref>{{citation |title=World Heritage List |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/ |contribution=Historic Centre of Salvador de Bahia |contribution-url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/309 |location=Paris, France |publisher=UNESCO}}.</ref>
File:Iglesia de San Francisco, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 152 (cropped).JPG|The large [[Basilica and Convent of San Francisco, Quito|Basilica of San Francisco]], in [[Quito]], Ecuador, built between 1535 and 1650
</gallery>

[[File:Entrance of Colditz Castle chapel.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|The rhyolitic [[tuff]] portal of the "church house" at [[Colditz Castle]], [[Saxony]], designed by Andreas Walther II (1584), is an example of the exuberance of [[Antwerp Mannerism]]]]
While many architectural styles explore harmonious ideals, Mannerism wants to take style a step further and explores the [[aesthetics]] of hyperbole and exaggeration.<ref name="ReferenceC">Gombrich, E H. The Story of Art London: Phaidon Press Ltd, {{ISBN|0-7148-3247-2}} {{Page needed|date=April 2015}}</ref> Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zino/hd_zino.htm |title=Mannerism: Bronzino (1503–1572) and his Contemporaries|publisher= Metropolitan Museum of Art|access-date=2013-05-19}}</ref> Mannerism favours compositional tension and instability rather than balance and clarity.<ref name="ReferenceB">Art and Illusion, E. H. Gombrich, {{ISBN|9780691070001}}</ref> The definition of Mannerism, and the phases within it, continues to be the subject of debate among art historians.

Northern or [[Antwerp Mannerism]] predates and is distinct from Italian Mannerism. [[Antwerp]] during its 16th-century boom produced a style that was the last phase of [[Early Netherlandish painting]] with Early Renaissance elements. Through Antwerp, Renaissance and Mannerist styles were widely introduced in England, Germany, and northern and eastern Europe in general.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wisse |first=Authors: Jacob |title=Northern Mannerism in the Early Sixteenth Century {{!}} Essay {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nman/hd_nman.htm |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |language=en}}</ref>

==Literature and music==
Literary mannerism involved such figures as [[Michelangelo]], [[Clément Marot]], [[Giovanni della Casa]], [[Giovanni Battista Guarini]], [[Torquato Tasso]], [[Veronica Franco]], [[Miguel de Cervantes]], and others.{{sfnm|1a1=Baldick|1y=2015|2a1=Greene|2y=2012}}

In [[English literature]], Mannerism is commonly identified with the qualities of the "[[Metaphysical poets]]" of whom the most famous is [[John Donne]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&u=lond95336&id=GALE%7CCX3404701823&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GVRL&asid=6e91127d |title=Gale eBooks – Document – John Donne |website=go.gale.com |access-date=2020-02-03}}</ref> The witty sally of a Baroque writer, [[John Dryden]], against the verse of Donne in the previous generation, affords a concise contrast between Baroque and Mannerist aims in the arts:

{{Blockquote|He affects the metaphysics, not only in his satires but in his amorous verses, ''where nature only'' should reign; and ''perplexes the minds'' of the fair sex with ''nice''{{efn|'Nice' in the sense of 'finely reasoned.'}} ''speculations'' of philosophy when he should ''engage their hearts'' and entertain them with the softnesses of love.<ref name="autogenerated1957">{{cite book |author=Gardner, Helen |title=Metaphysical Poets |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zS_EXPFEtKwC&q=dryden |publisher=Oxford University Press, London |year=1957 |access-date=15 August 2014|isbn=9780140420388 }}</ref>{{rp|15}} (italics added)}}

The rich musical possibilities in the poetry of the late 16th and early 17th centuries provided an attractive basis for the [[madrigal (music)|madrigal]], which quickly rose to prominence as the pre-eminent musical form in Italian musical culture, as discussed by [[Tim Carter (musicologist)|Tim Carter]]:

{{Blockquote|The madrigal, particularly in its aristocratic guise, was obviously a vehicle for the 'stylish style' of Mannerism, with poets and musicians revelling in witty conceits and other visual, verbal and musical tricks to delight the connoisseur.<ref>Carter 1991, 128.</ref>}}

The word Mannerism has also been used to describe the style of highly florid and [[counterpoint|contrapuntally]] complex [[polyphonic]] music made in France in the late 14th century.<ref>Apel 1946–1947, p. 20.</ref> This period is now usually referred to as the ''[[ars subtilior]]''.

===Mannerism and theatre===
''The Early Commedia dell'Arte (1550–1621): The Mannerist Context'' by Paul Castagno discusses Mannerism's effect on the contemporary professional theatre.{{sfn|Castagno|1994|p={{Page needed|date=June 2010}}}} Castagno's was the first study to define a theatrical form as Mannerist, employing the vocabulary of Mannerism and maniera to discuss the typification, exaggerated, and ''effetto meraviglioso'' of the ''comici dell'arte''. See Part II of the above book for a full discussion of Mannerist characteristics in the [[commedia dell'arte]]. The study is largely iconographic, presenting a pictorial evidence that many of the artists who painted or printed commedia images were in fact, coming from the workshops of the day, heavily ensconced in the maniera tradition.

The preciosity in [[Jacques Callot]]'s minute engravings seem to belie a much larger scale of action. Callot's ''Balli di Sfessania'' ({{literally|dance of the buttocks}}) celebrates the commedia's blatant eroticism, with protruding phalli, spears posed with the anticipation of a comic ream, and grossly exaggerated masks that mix the bestial with human. The eroticism of the ''innamorate'' ("lovers") including the baring of breasts, or excessive veiling, was quite in vogue in the paintings and engravings from the second [[School of Fontainebleau]], particularly those that detect a Franco-Flemish influence. Castagno demonstrates iconographic linkages between genre painting and the figures of the commedia dell'arte that demonstrate how this theatrical form was embedded within the cultural traditions of the late [[cinquecento]].{{sfn|Castagno|1994|p={{Page needed|date=June 2010}}}}

====Commedia dell'arte, ''disegno interno'', and the ''discordia concors''====
Important corollaries exist between the ''disegno interno'', which substituted for the ''disegno esterno'' (external design) in Mannerist painting. This notion of projecting a deeply subjective view as superseding nature or established principles (perspective, for example), in essence, the emphasis away from the object to its subject, now emphasizing execution, displays of virtuosity, or unique techniques. This inner vision is at the heart of commedia performance. For example, in the moment of improvisation the actor expresses his virtuosity without heed to formal boundaries, decorum, unity, or text. [[Harlequin|Arlecchino]] became emblematic of the mannerist ''discordia concors'' (the union of opposites), at one moment he would be gentle and kind, then, on a dime, become a thief violently acting out with his battle. Arlecchino could be graceful in movement, only in the next beat, to clumsily trip over his feet. Freed from the external rules, the actor celebrated the evanescence of the moment; much the way [[Benvenuto Cellini]] would dazzle his patrons by draping his sculptures, unveiling them with lighting effects and a sense of the marvelous. The presentation of the object became as important as the object itself.

==Neo-Mannerism==
In the 20th century, the rise of Neo-Mannerism stemmed from artist [[Ernie Barnes]]. The style was heavily influenced by both the Jewish Community, as well as the African-American Community, leading to "The Beauty of the Ghetto" exhibition between 1972 and 1979. The Exhibition toured major American cities, and was hosted by dignitaries, professional athletes, and celebrities. When the exhibition was on view in 1974 at the [[National Museum of African Art|Museum of African Art]] in Washington, D.C., Rep. [[John Conyers]] stressed the important positive message of the exhibit in the ''[[Congressional Record]]''.

The style of Neo-Mannerism, as developed by Barnes, includes subjects with elongated limbs and bodies, as well as exaggerated movement. Another common theme was closed eyes of the subjects, as a visual representation of "how blind we are to one another's humanity".<ref>Barnes, Ernie. Interview, "Personal Diaries" with Ed Gordon, BET, 1990.</ref> "We look upon each other and decide immediately: This person is black, so he must be&nbsp;... This person lives in poverty, so he must be&nbsp;...".

===Theatre and cinema===
In an interview, film director [[Peter Greenaway]] mentions [[Federico Fellini]] and [[Bill Viola]] as two major inspirations for his exhaustive and self-referential play with the insoluble tension between the database form of images and the various analogous and digital interfaces that structure them cinematically. This play can be called neo-mannerist precisely insofar as it is distinguished from the (neo-)baroque: "Just as Roman Catholicism would offer you paradise and heaven, there is an equivalent commercial paradise being offered very largely by the whole capitalistic effect, which is associated with Western cinema. This is my political analogy in terms of the use of multimedia as a political weapon. I would equate, in a sense, the great baroque Counter-Reformation, its cultural activity, with what cinema, American cinema predominantly, has been doing in the last seventy years."<ref>Greenway, Peter. Interview, "Cinema of Ideas" with Henk Oosterling, 2001.</ref>

===As a term of criticism===
According to art critic [[Jerry Saltz]], "Neo-Mannerism" (new Mannerism) is among several clichés that are "squeezing the life out of the art world."<ref name="saltz">{{Cite news |title=Jerry Saltz on Art's Insidious New Cliché: Neo-Mannerism |last=Saltz |first=Jerry |author-link=Jerry Saltz |url=http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/jerry-saltz-on-arts-insidious-new-clich.html |work=Vulture |date=10 October 2013 |access-date=16 August 2014}}</ref> Neo-Mannerism describes art of the 21st century that is turned out by students whose academic teachers "have scared [them] into being pleasingly meek, imitative, and ordinary".<ref name="saltz" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Visual arts}}
* [[Counter-Maniera]]
* [[Mannerist architecture and sculpture in Poland]]
* [[Template:Timeline of Italian artists to 1800|Timeline of Italian artists to 1800]]
* [[Mannerism in Brazil]]
* [[Philippe Millereau]]
* [[Art of the late 16th century in Milan]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|20em}}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
*Apel, Willi. 1946–1947. "The French Secular Music of the Late Fourteenth Century". ''Acta Musicologica'' 18: 17–29.
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Baldick |given=Chris |authorlink=Chris Baldick |entry=Mannerism |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms |edition=4th |format=Online Version |year=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191783234 |entry-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198715443.001.0001/acref-9780198715443-e-686?rskey=pUPikW&result=697 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198715443.001.0001/acref-9780198715443 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{cite book |last=Briganti |first=Giuliano |year=1962 |title=Italian Mannerism |translator-first=Margaret |translator-last=Kunzle |location=London, England |publisher=Thames and Hudson}}
*Carter, Tim. 1991. ''Music in Late Renaissance and Early Baroque Italy''. London: Amadeus Press. {{ISBN|0-9313-4053-5}}{{verify source|date=April 2015}}<!--Changed title to match 1992 release by same publisher, No book of this title, nothing by a Tim Carter published in 1991 found on LoC Worldcat.-->
* {{cite book |last=Castagno |first=Paul C. |year=1994 |title=The Early Commedia Dell'arte (1550–1621): The Mannerist Context |location=New York |publisher=P. Lang |isbn=0-8204-1794-7}}
*Cheney, Liana de Girolami (ed.). 2004. ''Readings in Italian Mannerism'', second printing, with a foreword by Craig Hugh Smyth. New York: Peter Lang. {{ISBN|0-8204-7063-5}}. (Previous edition, without the foreword by Smyth, New York: Peter Lang, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8204-2483-8}}).
*Cox-Rearick, Janet. "Pontormo, Jacopo da." Grove Art Online.11 April 2019. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000068662.
*Davies, David, Greco, J. H Elliott, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), and National Gallery (Great Britain). El Greco. London, England: National Gallery Company, 2003.
* {{cite journal |last=Freedberg |first=Sidney J. |date=1965 |title=Observations on the Painting of the Maniera |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=47 |number=2 |pages=187–197 |doi=10.1080/00043079.1965.10788836}} Reprinted in Cheney 2004, pp. 116–123.
* {{cite book |last=Freedberg |first=Sidney J. |year=1971 |title=Painting in Italy, 1500–1600 |edition=1st |location=Harmondsworth and Baltimore |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-056035-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Freedberg |first=Sidney J. |year=1993 |title=Painting in Italy, 1500–1600 |edition=3rd |location=New Haven, Connecticut and London, England |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=0-300-05587-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Friedländer |first=Walter |author-link=Walter Friedländer |year=1965 |title=Mannerism and Anti-Mannerism in Italian Painting |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0805231536}}
* [[Ernst Gombrich|Gombrich, Ernst Hans]]. 1995. ''The Story of Art'', sixteenth edition. London, England: Phaidon Press. {{ISBN|0-7148-3247-2}}.
* {{cite encyclopedia |editor-surname=Greene |editor-given=Roland |editor-link=Roland Greene |display-editors=etal |entry=Mannerism |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics |edition=4th rev. |year=2012 |url={{Google books|id=uKiC6IeFR2UC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |place=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15491-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Grossmann |first=F. |year=1965 |title=Between Renaissance and Baroque: European Art: 1520–1600 |publisher=Manchester City Art Gallery}}
*Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta. ''Arcimboldo : Visual Jokes, Natural History, and Still-Life Painting''. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central.
*Lambraki-Plaka, Marina (1999). El Greco-The Greek. Kastaniotis. {{ISBN|960-03-2544-8}}.
* Marchetti Letta, Elisabetta, Jacopo Da Pontormo, and Rosso Fiorentino. Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino. The Library of Great Masters. Antella, Florence, Italy: Scala, p. 199.
* Marías, Fernando. 2003 "Greco, El." Grove Art Online. 2 April 2019. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000034199.
* {{cite book |last=Mirollo |first=James V. |year=1984 |title=Mannerism and Renaissance Poetry: Concept, Mode, Inner Design |location=New Haven, Connecticut |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-03227-7}}
*Nichols, Tom. Tintoretto : Tradition and Identity. London, England: Reaktion, 1999.
* {{cite book |author-link=John Shearman |last=Shearman |first=John K. G. |year=1967 |title=Mannerism |series=Style and Civilization |location=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-013759-9}}
* [[Roberta Olson|Olson, Roberta J.M.]], ''Italian Renaissance Sculpture'', 1992, Thames & Hudson (World of Art), {{ISBN|9780500202531}}
*Smart, Alastair. The Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain. The Harbrace History of Art. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972.
*Smyth, Craig Hugh. 1992. ''Mannerism and Maniera'', with an introduction by Elizabeth Cropper. Vienna, Austria: IRSA. {{ISBN|3-900731-33-0}}.
* {{cite book |last=Summerson |first=John |date=1983 |title=Architecture in Britain 1530–1830 |edition=7th revised and enlarged (3rd integrated) |series=The Pelican History of Art |location=Harmondsworth and New York |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-056003-3}} [Reprinted with corrections, 1986; 8th edition, Harmondsworth and New York: Penguin, 1991.]
*Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt Cothren. Art History. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2011.
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*Cohen, M. (2005). “Manners” Make the Man: Politeness, Chivalry, and the Construction of Masculinity, 1750–1830. Journal of British Studies, 44(2), 312–329. https://doi.org/10.1086/427127
*Gardner, Helen Louise. 1972. ''The Metaphysical Poets, Selected and Edited,'' revised edition. Introduction. Harmondsworth, England; New York: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-14-042038-X}}.
*Hall, Marcia B . 2001. ''After Raphael: Painting in Central Italy in the Sixteenth Century'', [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-48397-2}}.
*Pinelli, Antonio. 1993.  ''La bella maniera: artisti del Cinquecento tra regola e licenza''. Turin: Piccola biblioteca Einaudi. {{ISBN|88-06-13137-0}}
*Sypher, Wylie. 1955. ''Four Stages of Renaissance Style: Transformations in Art and Literature, 1400–1700''. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. A classic analysis of Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque, and Late Baroque.
*Würtenberger, Franzsepp. 1963. ''Mannerism: The European Style of the Sixteenth Century''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston (Originally published in German, as ''Der Manierismus; der europäische Stil des sechzehnten Jahrhunderts''. Vienna: A. Schroll, 1962).
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Mannerism}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zino/hd_zino.htm "Mannerism: Bronzino (1503–1572) and his Contemporaries", on the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website]

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