Mannerist sculpture, like Mannerist painting, was characterized by
elongated forms, spiral angles, and aloof subject gazes.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Define elements characteristic of Mannerist sculpture
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
Figura Serpentinata (Latin - serpentine figure) is a style in painting and sculpture that is typical
of Mannerism. It is similar, but not identical, to contrapposto, and often features figures in spiral
poses.
The Mannerist style of sculpture began to create a form in which figures showed physical power,
passion, tension, and semantic perfection. Movements were not without motivation, nor even
simply done with a will, but were shown in a pure form.
Mannerist sculpture was an attempt to find an original style that would surpass the achievements
of the High Renaissance: equated with Michelangelo. Much of the struggle to surpass his success
centered on commissions to fill other places in thePiazza della Signoria in Florence, next to the
David.
TERMS [ edit ]
Figura Serpentinata
Figura Serpentinata (Latin - serpentine figure) is a style in painting and sculpture that is typical of
Mannerism. It is similar, but not identical, to contrapposto, and features figures often in a spiral
pose.
piazza
a public square, especially in an Italian city
Mannerism
A style of art developed at the end of the High Renaissance, characterized by the deliberate
distortion and exaggeration of perspective, especially the elongation of figures.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [edit ]
Mannerist sculpture, like painting, was
characterized by elongated forms, spiral
angles, and aloof subject gazes. Figura
Serpentinata (Latin - serpentine figure) is
a style in painting and sculpture that is
typical of Mannerism. It is similar, but not
identical, to contrapposto, and often
features figures in spiral poses. Early
examples can be seen in the work
of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and
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Michelangelo. In defining figura
serpentinata, Emil Maurer writes of the painter and theorist Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo: "the
recommended ideal form unites, after Lomazzo, three qualities: the pyramid, the
'serpentinata' movement and a certain numerical proportion, all three united to form one
whole. At the same time, precedence is given to the 'moto', that is, to the meandering
movement, which should make the pyramid, in exact proportion, into the geometrical form of
a cone. "
With the loosening of the norms of the High Renaissance and the development of the
"Serpentita" style, the Mannerist style's structures and rules began to be systematized. The
Mannerist style of sculpture began to create a form in which figures showed physical power,
passion, tension, and semantic perfection. Movements were not without motivation, nor even
simply done with a will, but were shown in a pure form. Also, their actions arose not out of
power, but powerlessness, perhaps best evidenced by Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine
Women .
Rape of the Sabine Women
Giambologna, Rape of the Sabine Women, 1583, Florence, Italy, 13' 6" high, marble. In this piece,
Giambologna demonstrates the use of the figura serpentinata.
Also as in painting, early Italian Mannerist sculpture was largely an attempt to find an
original style that would expand and surpass the achievements of the High Renaissance. For
contemporaries in sculpture, the High Renaissance was equated with Michelangelo, and
much of the struggle to surpass his success was played out in commissions to fill other places
in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, next to Michelangelo's David.
For instance, Baccio Bandinelli took over the project of Herculesand Cacus from
Michelangelo, although his work was maliciously compared by Benvenuto Cellini to "a sack of
melons. " Like other works of Mannerists, Bandinelli removes far more of the original block
of stone than Michelangelo would have done. Outside of natural stone sculptures,
Cellini's bronzePerseus with the head of Medusa is a Mannerist masterpiece, designed with
eight angles of view .
Perseus with the Head of Medusa
Benvenuto Cellini, Perseus with the head of Medusa, 1545–1554.
Characteristically of Mannerist sculpture were small bronze figures for collector's cabinets,
often mythological subjects with nudes. They were a popular Renaissance form at which
Giambologna excelled in the later part of the century. He and his followers devised elegant,
elongated examples of the figura serpentinata, often of two intertwined figures, that were
interesting from all angles and joined the Piazza della Signora collection .
Hercules Beating Nessus
Hercules and Nessus (1599), Florence.