Manerrism DWC & CLS

And style of painting developed in the years around 1525 after the death of Raphael that was called Mannerism. Key characteristics of the style was bright vivid colors, distorted forms, exaggerated perspectives, and dramatic use of light. Out of the style artists were able to develop and individualism of their own, causeing each artist to have their own signature style. Another aspect of this form of painting is the busyness of the picture, making it difficult for the viewer to focus on any one point. Often the structure has no clear set, causing figures to just fall out of nowhere.
A good example of the mannerism style is Borzino’s “The Exposure of Luxury.” The center characters, Venus and her son Cupid are dramatically lit. The manneristic distortion is seen in the distance between Cupid’s head and shoulder. In the real world this would make his neck a foot long. The picture has a host of participants. The upper portion of the painting has Time and Truth parting a curtain allowing us to view the main portion of the picture. Cererally other charaters circle the center pair. This painting has many of the key factors to be of the

Mannerism style. Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” exudes Mannerism with one look. The painting is classically busy, having layer upon layer of people. The picture begins at sea level and goes all the way up to heaven. The color blue dominates the picture, finding its way into every crevice. The center character draws our attention with a white light coming up behind him, making it the only portion of the picture that catches you eye. Even though the characters surrounding this central character lean towards him, the rest of the paintings inhabitants seem to have no relation to him. Although Michelangelo was a Renaissance painter, the “Last Judgment” is clearly manneristic.

Jean-Anguste-Dominique Ingres explores mannerism with “The Turkish Bath” and sketches and studies he did in preparation for the final picture. In a picture of the bathing woman “Baigneuse de Valpincon” done as a prelude, the bather has an obvious distortion in he right leg. The limb seems to come out of nowhere. Her feet and arms are proportionately tiny, but her hips and hind quarters are accentuated in comparison. Ingres paints the body to his own personal perspective on how he wants it to be seen, not necessarily in reality. Another study for the Turkish bath is “La Femme aux Trios Bras.” This poor unfortunate woman has three arms, as Ingres experiments with arm position. Again we see a fixation with the buttock being made too large. Always we have a circular motion with each female form. Lastly we have the final product. The picture in keeping with roundness is itself a circle. The background is flat and dull as we mover forward the colors come more to life. There are women everywhere wrapped around and piled on top of one another, but always in keeping with a circular motion. Ingres makes use of the five senses, touch, smell, taste, sound, but most importantly sight. This painting speaks the man’s opinion of women, they are here for man’s pleasure only. There days are filled with lounging and frolicking.

Polidro Da Caravaggio developed a very individual style after fleeing Rome while it was being ravaged by Charles V’s army. Caravaggio is known for a very monochrome style, experimenting with different shades of a single color. In “Nativity” we can see multi tones of the blue in the sky, and of the brown of the earth. In contrast to the muted blues and browns his central character stands out a vivid red robe, which draws our attention to the brightly lit white cloth she holds over the baby. The baby itself is distorted, its head is too big and body too thin. The picture is somewhat crowded in the manneristic style, but compared to others it is somewhat reserved.

Mannerism was born out the struggles of being concurred by Charles V who was not very found of art, particularly Italian art. He also took away the independent states in Italy, removing the autonomy of the people. Mannerism is the in between period from the death of Raphael, to Barogue movement. An interesting tidbit about this period was the beginning of archaeology. Artists could now work from actual pieces of the past instead using their imaginations when it came to classical representation. The art of mannerism had a sinister or evil connotation, where the preceding Renaissance was graceful and angelic.

Bibliography:
Geddy J. Paul Trust. The Geddy Foudations http://www.getty.edu/

Art History 101. Division of the New York Times Company. 2002.