Mannerism in painting: features of the direction

Mannerism in painting is a direction in the fine arts of the 16th-first half of the 17th century. It arose in Italy as a reaction to the crisis of humanistic ideals, characteristic of the Renaissance. In a broader sense, this concept implies a new cultural trend that was also characteristic of literature, architecture, sculpture, and music.

Background

Mannerism in painting appeared at a time when the principles of high Renaissance still prevailed in art . However, in connection with a number of socio-economic, political and spiritual crisis phenomena in culture, there was a departure from the traditional understanding of man as a harmonious whole of spiritual and bodily principles. Many thinkers, scientists, intellectuals have become disillusioned with humanistic ideals. The belief in the harmony of the world, the possibility of an ideal coexistence of a man of peace and nature was lost.

A new approach

As a consequence of these phenomena, Mannerism in painting became characteristic, for which a departure from clear classical proportions, majestic plots, and monumental images was characteristic. Now the artists began to write in a completely different manner. The latter concept became decisive for a new direction, since the ideological content of the canvas and sophistication, refinement, and sophistication of forms came to the fore.

Stages

Mannerism in painting has passed several stages of development. The first period falls on 1520-1540. At this time, the new style especially developed rapidly in Italian, to be exact, in Roman-Florentine circles (Vasari, Pontormo and others). Artists actively mastered a new language and pictorial techniques, placing emphasis on the line, chiaroscuro, unusual composition, special color scheme.

Since the second half of the 16th century and until about the beginning of the next century, a new direction has spread across the continent, so that in some European countries its local schools have emerged. The most famous of them was Fontainebleau in France. Thus, this style received pan-European recognition, having a great influence on the development of the next trend in culture - baroque.

Features

Mannerism of Italian painting laid the foundation of the whole stream as a whole. Young authors sought to overcome the harmony and harmony, characteristic of the masters of the Renaissance. Instead of smooth and even outlines, they began to represent broken lines, instead of quiet, balanced poses - the swiftness and dynamics of the movements of the figures, and the monumental majestic images were replaced by rather complex compositions.

Artists often sought to convey the inner tension of the characters. And for this they resorted to the violation of light harmony. The figures were intentionally made elongated, elongated, thus violating the proportion of the image. The authors used cold colors in contrast to their predecessors, who, in an effort to convey spiritual pacification and inner harmony, painted with warm colors.

Impact

So, the specified features of style, mannerism, allow to allocate it in a separate stage of development of culture and art. Although some researchers tend to see it as either one of the manifestations of the Renaissance, or the initial stage of the Baroque. However, most experts still agree that this incomparable style is too original, which makes it possible to single out it as a separate stage of development. For example, critics note that the spiritualism of this current formed the basis of sacral baroque. Even in our time in the visual arts there is imitation of this style. So, some singled out the modern direction - neomanierism.

In other countries

The new trend has become widespread in European countries, largely due to the fact that Italian artists have worked in a number of cultural centers on the continent. But local masters also showed considerable interest in the new artistic language, techniques, means of representativeness. Features of the painting of Mannerist artists are reflected in the work of E. Greco.

The reason for the popularity of the style in question is that he was distinguished by a special elegance and courtesy. Not for nothing in the framework of this direction the ideals of chivalrous romance were revived again, the themes of which, as it were, received a second life in the works of early modern artists.

At the same time, this style was understandable and accessible only to limited individuals. He developed in the closed circles of the court and palace intelligentsia. And he did not receive such a wide scope as the ideas of humanism embodied in the canvases. Technique of performance was distinguished by intricacy and pretentiousness, which made the works difficult for perception. Mannerism in painting, the features of which were very different from that of the representatives of the Renaissance, although widespread, nevertheless did not become such a landmark in culture. The creativity of the famous titans, the significance of which was so great, went beyond the boundaries of fine art and received a wide public resonance.

The phenomenon of humanistic ideals is that they had not only cultural, but socio-political significance. What can not be said about Mannerism. However, it should be regarded as a landmark phenomenon in art, as it marked the transition from the classical antique style to baroque.