Epochs · Italy & Northern Europe

Mannerism

c. 1520 – 1600

In the generation after Raphael and Michelangelo, artists pushed the High Renaissance ideal toward refinement and artifice. Figures grow elongated and twisting, colours turn acid and unexpected, and space becomes crowded or ambiguous. Prized at princely courts in Florence, Fontainebleau and Prague, Mannerism valued wit, virtuosity and grace over calm balance, and its restless energy carried on in the work of El Greco.

Hallmarks

Elongated, serpentine figures
Artificial, often acidic colour
Compressed or ambiguous space
Courtly elegance and virtuosity

Artists here

Benvenuto Cellini · 1500 – 1571
Unknown artist, France
Parmigianino · 1503 – 1540
Bronzino · 1503 – 1572
Tintoretto · 1518 – 1594
El Greco · 1541 – 1614

Read further on Wikipedia ↗

Works (10)

Madonna with the Long Neck
Parmigianino · c. 1534–40
Salt Cellar (Saliera)
Benvenuto Cellini · 1540–43
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time
Bronzino · c. 1545
Eleanor of Toledo with Her Son Giovanni
Bronzino · c. 1545
The Disrobing of Christ
El Greco · 1577–79
The Burial of the Count of Orgaz
El Greco · 1586–88
The Last Supper
Tintoretto · 1592–94
Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters
Unknown artist, France · c. 1594
View of Toledo
El Greco · c. 1596–1600
The Opening of the Fifth Seal
El Greco · 1608–14