Mannerism facts for kids

Jacopo Pontormo, The Entombment

Mannerism is a style of art that was created in the Late Renaissance period, from about 1520 until about 1600. The Mannerist style of painting or sculpture often shows figures that are "elongated" (made longer) and "distorted" (made into strange shapes"). The aim of the Mannerist artist was usually to make art that looked "elegant".

The Mannerist style began in Italy, where the artists were influenced by the figures that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling and in the "Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel. During the Renaissance, artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael had tried very hard to learn from nature, and to paint things in a way that was very realistic. These two famous painters both died around 1520. Many artists then decided that they were going to use the art of painting to "express themselves". They were not going to follow the rules of anatomy and perspective in the way that Leonardo and Raphael did. Mannerist paintings are often full of figures that seem to be twisting, writhing or fighting. The faces of the figures often show strong emotions such as sadness, fear or hatred.

Not all the painters who were working during the Mannerist period painted in the Mannerist style. Many artists continued to work in the style of the High Renaissance. Painters in the Mannerist style were Tintoretto, Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, Parmigianino and Rosso Fiorentino. Giambologna and Benvenuti Cellini were Mannerist sculptors. Giulio Romano was a Mannerist architect.

Mannerism spread from Italy to France, Germany and Spain. One of the most famous Mannerist painters was El Greco who worked in Spain. Some other artists who worked in the Mannerist style are the French sculptor Jean Goujon, the Dutch painter Abraham Bloemaert and the German painter Bartolomeus Spranger. Possibly the strangest paintings from this time were by Giuseppe Arcimboldo who did pictures in which people's faces seem to be made from fruit, flowers, fire and even fish.

Gallery

Parmigianino, The Madonna with the Long Neck
Jacopo Pontormo, The Entombment
El Greco, St Martin and the Beggar
Tintoretto, Jesus in the House of Mary and Martha
Arcimboldo, Spring

Images for kids

The Libyan Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling
Copy after lost original, Leonardo da Vinci's Battaglia di Anghiari, by Rubens
The Statue of David, completed by Michelangelo in 1504, is one of the most renowned works of the Renaissance, role model for many other early Italian Mannerist sculptures.
Town Hall in Zamość, Poland, designed by Bernardo Morando.
Mannerist architecture in Gdańsk, Poland.
Giambologna, Samson Slaying a Philistine, about 1562
Rosso Fiorentino, Francois I Gallery, Château de Fontainebleau, France
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, The Librarian, 1562, Skokloster Castle.
Tintoretto, Last Supper
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Autumn, 1573, oil on canvas, Louvre Museum, Paris
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Vertumnus the god of seasons, 1591, Skokloster Castle
Bronzino, Portrait of Bia de'Medici
El Greco, Baptism
One of the best examples of Mannerist architecture - Palazzo Te in Mantova, designed by Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano, Pallazo Ducale in Mantova
Own house of Giulio Romano in Mantova
Baldassare Peruzzi, Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne in Rome
Michelangelo, vestibule of Laurentian Library
St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta