This quarter I particularly enjoyed studying the Mannerism Period from the High Renaissance. I was drawn to this period because of its originality. Mannerism I believe brought a unique aspect to its art. With the more abstract ways and contrasting colors I was drawn to the differences it brought to their paintings in particular. Mannerism made its techniques known by taking figures and contorting them from proper anatomy. With the elongated limbs and uncomfortable yet incredibly balanced poses. Every figure took on an emotion and distinct contortion to draw in the viewer’s eyes. Mannerism also played around with irregular settings, lighting, and an overall collapsed perspective.
The Pontormo Entombment is a strong painting that represents these various aspects of the Mannerism period. First I noticed the irregular colors in the piece. Mostly pastels of pink, beige, and blue were used in this piece. Jesus lays in the contorted mess of limbs caused by the other figures in the image. The facial expressions of these figures remain glazed over if not peaceful. The balance in each figure shows one of the mannerist’s techniques of balance in their poses. Supporting one another as a somewhat of a controlled chaos takes place. The elongated necks of the figures in this painting create a sense of gracefulness in their movements. The cloths drape so elegantly around one another.
That is why the Mannerism Period was so intriguing to me. It was the visual details in the paintings that drew me closer. Although the historical context behind this period was interesting it was the visual details that made this time period stand out to me. It was short, but I believe it brought new direction to modern day art. With a different perspective I was able to see more beauty in their elongated limbs and contorted frames.
I had a different reaction to this period than I had to other periods. Every piece from this period seemed to have more going on than any other piece. The unique forms placed in front of me created an interesting originality to how we view human anatomy. It was the irregularity to these pieces that grasped my interest. IN a way I saw the Mannerism period as a time of rebellion. Taking the balanced, harmonized, naturalistic ways of the Renaissance times and creating a controlled chaos of clashing colors and disproportioned bodies to create bizarre themes that combined Classicism, Christianity and mythology.
Artistic periods seem to blend together for me. Taking techniques from one time and creating new art can get tiring. We see naturalism, humanism, and other aspects of art through out the times. Mannerism was a way to break from this repetitive ways and create a time that created vastly different stories and still held such beauty in their art.
I never thought of this style as a rebellion, but after you said it I see it now and it is so true. I liked the Mannerism time period because of the elongation and craziness of the painting. The style is really all very interesting.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Groce
Even though I feel that Mannerism is kind of strange and unpleasing to the eye, I think that it was necessary for this sudden change to irregularity. I think the color choice of this style is so unpleasing after studying the rich beautiful styles of the Renaissance.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right that Mannerism is a break from the repetition that was found in the Early and High Renaissance. It's interesting to note that there are other examples of when artistic periods tried to break away from previous traditions, too. For example, the Late Classical period in Greece produced sculptures which had more slender proportions than the sculptures in the High Classical period. (It's not as an extreme example as Mannerism, I think, but it is one example of how other artistic periods have rejected previous artistic standards.)
ReplyDelete-Prof. Bowen
Like you, I also loved Mannerism. I love how during this artistic style, artists really pushed themselves to think outside the box. I think this is most intriguing to me because I struggle a lot with thinking outside the box. Sometimes I am even afraid to go outside the rules when it comes to graphic design (graphic design major). So, when observing this style, it really inspires me. You pointed out some great artistic conventions of mannerism. Great job!
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