ART216: Mannerism and Mannerisms: Variations in Art of the 16th
Century
Mannerism is the term applied to most art of the mid- to late 16 th century. The term is
defined differently by almost every textbook, partly because it is hard to figure out what, if
anything, these artists have in com m on. At the very least, we might note that alm ost all of
this art was made during a period of tremendous social change, religious uncertainty, and
new attitudes about art. Your book suggests that a key word to understanding mannerism is
“artifice.”
Key religious events in Italy at this tim e:
1517-1530: social unrest, related to the northern Reform ation, Sack of Rom e in 1527
1530-1570: Counter-Reform ation (Council of Trent; Inquisition)
Artists who are alw ays called M annerists:
Jacopo da Pontormo: The Entom bm ent, 1526-8
Agnolo Bronzino: Exposure of Luxury: An Allegory of Venus, Cupid and Tim e, c. 1546
(com m issioned by Cosim o de Medici as a gift for King Francis I of France)
portraits by Bronzino:
Portrait of a Young Man, 1530
Lodovico Capponi, 1550s
Eleanora of Toledo and Her Son, 1545
Portrait of a Woman, 1560
Parm igianino: Madonna with the Long Neck, 1535
Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, 1524
Three wom en of the 16 th century:
Caterina van Hemessen: Self portrait, 1548
Sofonisba Anguissola: Self-Portrait at a Spinet, 1561
The Chess Game, 1555
Lavinia Fontana: Self-Portrait at a Spinet (or Clavichord), 1577
Portrait of a Noblewoman, 1584
Sculpture and Architecture in the m id-16th century:
Giovanni Bologna: Rape of the Sabine Woman, 1583
Astronom y (Venus Urania) (no date)
Michelangelo: Laurentian Library of the Church of San Lorenzo, beg. 1524 (compl. c. 1550)
Giulio Romano: Palazzo del Te, Mantua, 1525-35; made for Federigo Gonzaga
frescoes in the Sala dei Giganti (Hall of Giants), 1532-4
Venice, Mannerism and the Counter-Reform ation
two new versions of the Last Supper:
Paolo Veronese: Christ (or Feast) in the House of Levi, 1573
Tintoretto: Last Supper, 1594
Palladio and housing for a new social class: the gentle-farm er
The Four Books of Architecture: hierarchy, sym m etry and geom etry as the key to design,
beauty, and function
Villa Rotonda, 1566-1570
San Giorgio Maggiore, beg. 1565
Il Redentore, beg. 1576