Mannerism and the late Renaissance

Between the High Renaissance and the Baroque, from the death of Raphael in 1520 until 1600, art was at an impasse. All problems of representing reality had been solved and art had reached a peak of perfection and harmony. So what now? The answer: replace harmony with dissonance, reason with emotion, and reality with imagination. In an effort to be original, Late Renaissance, or Mannerist, artists abandoned realism based on observation of nature. In the High Renaissance, when times were more stable, picture compositions were symmetrical and weighted toward the center. In the Late Renaissance, compositions were oblique, with a void in the center and figures crowded around the edge of the frame.

Mannerist paintings are identifiable because their style is predictable. Figures writhe and twist in unnecessary contrapposto. Bodies are distorted sometimes grossly muscular. Colors are lurid, heightening the impression of tension, movement, and unreal lighting. Notable Mannerists were Pontormo and Rosso, Bronzino, whose precious, elegant portraits featured long necks and sloping shoulders.

The Spanish Renaissance

El Greco. After coming to Venice, he appropriated Titian's vivid color and Tintoretto's dramatic lighting and was also influenced by Michelangelo, Raphael, and the Mannerists in Rome. The most striking characteristic of his paintings comes from the inner light. Unearthly illumination flickers over the canvases, making his style the most original of the Renaissance.

Critics have disputed whether El Greco should be considered a Mannerist; some claim he was too idiosyncratic to be classified. His art manifested certain undeniable Mannerist attributes, such as an unnatural light of uncertain origin and harsh colors like strong pink, acid green, and brilliant yellow and blue. His figures were distorted and elongated and the compositions full of swirling movement. Like the Mannerists, El Greco in his religious paintings cared little for accurately representing the visual world. He preferred to create an emotion–laden vision of celestial ecstasy.

stubble – the short stiff hairs on a man’s face that grow into a beard if he does not cut them off.

torments – severe physical or mental pain that someone suffers, often caused deliberately by someone else.

genre – a particular style used in cinema, writing, or art, which can be recognized by certain features.

hazy – not clear because there is smoke, dust, or water in the air.

peer – someone who is of the same age as another person.

chiaroscuro – the way that light and dark areas create a pattern, especially in drawings and paintings.

perspective – a way of thinking about something.

hatching – a pattern of parallel lines that are drawn across each other, used especially in drawings for showing dark areas.

oblique – not expressing something directly.

lurid – a lurid colour is very bright in an ugly way.

undeniable – certainly correct or true.

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