Mannerism was a style of European art that flourished from about 1520 to 1600. The style appears most fully and typically in central Italian art. However, some mannerist traits can be found in all European art of the time, including architecture and the late works of the great Renaissance artists Raphael and Michelangelo.
Mannerist artists tended to value artistic invention and imagination more than faithful reproduction of nature. Space in many mannerist paintings appears illogical or unmeasurable, with abrupt and disturbing contrasts between figures close to the viewer and those far away. Most of the paintings stress surface patterns. Strongly three-dimensional forms compressed within these patterns create an effect of confinement or of a struggle between a figure and its setting. Many figures in mannerist paintings are distorted in proportion and have contorted poses.
Mannerism was an elegant, courtly style. It flourished in Florence, Italy, where its leading representatives were Giorgio Vasari and Bronzino. The style was introduced to the French court by Rosso Fiorentino and by Francesco Primaticcio. The Venetian painter Tintoretto was influenced by the style. El Greco brought mannerism from Venice to Spain, where he developed it in his own distinctive way.
The mannerist approach to painting also influenced other arts. In architecture, the work of Italian architect Giulio Romano is a notable example. The Italians Benvenuto Cellini and Giovanni Bologna were the style’s chief representatives in sculpture.
