mannerism

mannerism a style in art and architecture (c.1520-1600), originating in Italy as a reaction against the equilibrium of form and proportions characteristic of the High Renaissance. In Florence, Pontormo and Bronzino, and in Rome, Il Rosso, Parmigianino, and Beccafumi created elegant figures elongated and contorted into uncomfortable postures. Mannerists devised compositions in which they deliberately confused scale and spatial relationships between figures, crowding them into the picture plane. Often strange tunnellike spaces were created, as in the works of Tintoretto and El Greco. Lighting became harsh, and coloring tended to be acrimonious. The mannerists devised sophisticated and obscure allegories. Among the prominent sculptors who created sinuous and sometimes bizarre forms were Giovanni Bologna, Ammanati, and to a certain extent Cellini. The style was carried into France by Primaticcio, Il Rosso, Niccolò dell'Abbate, and Cellini. It flourished particularly at Fontainebleau and was adapted by the sculptor Goujon and the engraver Callot. In architecture the style was manifested in the use of unbalanced proportions and arbitrary arrangements of decorative features. Elements of mannerism can be found in the elegant Laurentian Library in Florence, designed (c.1525) by Michelangelo; the Massimi Palace, Rome, planned by Peruzzi; the Palazzo del Te, Mantua, built and decorated by Giulio Romano; and the Uffizi, planned by Vasari. In Spain, Berruguette was a leading exponent of mannerism. Toward the end of the 16th cent., mannerism assumed an academic formalism in the works of the Zuccaro brothers. By the end of the century it had given way to the baroque .

Bibliography: See studies by S. J. Freedburg (2 vol., 1961), F. Würtenberger (1963), and M. Haraszti-Takas (1970).

manner manners maketh man proverbial saying, mid fourteenth century; motto of William of Wykeham (1324–1404), bishop of Winchester and chancellor of England.
to the manner born naturally fitted for some position or employment; originally, as a quotation from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

See also evil communications corrupt good manners, other times, other manners.

mannerism Term generally applied to the art and architecture of Italy between the High Renaissance and the Baroque. The style is typified by Parmigiano, Pontormo and Giovanni Lanfranco. Theorists are still debating the scope of mannerism: it has been extended to include El Greco, the Fontainebleau School, and the Romanist painters of the Netherlands. The term implies a courtly, self-conscious style.