MANNERISM & OTHER
th
16 CENTURY ART
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
Viceroyalty of New Spain.
c 1541-1542 CE. Pigment on paper.
The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec book,
created about twenty years after the 1521
Spanish conquest of Mexico with the intent
that it be seen by Charles V, the Holy
Roman Emperor and King of Spain. It
contains a history of the Aztec rulers and
their conquests, a list of the tribute paid by
the conquered, and a description of daily
Aztec life, in traditional Aztec pictograms
with Spanish explanations and commentary.
The codex is named after Don Antonio de
Mendoza, then the viceroy of New Spain,
who may have commissioned it.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
Viceroyalty of New Spain.
c 1541-1542 CE. Pigment on paper.
The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec book,
created about twenty years after the 1521
Spanish conquest of Mexico with the intent
that it be seen by Charles V, the Holy
Roman Emperor and King of Spain. It
contains a history of the Aztec rulers and
their conquests, a list of the tribute paid by
the conquered, and a description of daily
Aztec life, in traditional Aztec pictograms
with Spanish explanations and commentary.
The codex is named after Don Antonio de
Mendoza, then the viceroy of New Spain,
who may have commissioned it.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Frontispiece of the Codex Mendoza
Viceroyalty of New Spain.
c 1541-1542 CE. Pigment on paper.
The Codex’s frontispiece relates
information about the organization and
foundation of the Aztec capital,
Tenochtitlan, or the place of the prickly pear
cactus. Tenochtitlan was established in the
middle of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of
Mexico in 1325. Given that much of the
former Aztec capital is below modern-day
Mexico City, the Codex Mendoza
frontispiece corroborates other information
we have about the capital city and its
origins. For instance, it shows us a
schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan, with the
city divided into four parts by intersecting
blue-green undulating diagonals. The city
was made of canals, similar to the Italian
city of Venice, and was divided into four
quarters. The image displays the division of
the city and the canals running through it.
The division of the city into four parts was
intended to mirror the organization of the
universe, believed to be four parts aligned
with the four cardinal directions
(north, east, south, west).
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mosque of Selim II
Sinan (architect), Edirne, Turkey.
c 1568-1575 CE. Brick and stone.
The Selimiye Mosque, an Ottoman
mosque, was commissioned by Sultan
Selim II, and was built by an architect
named Mimar Sinan between 1569
and 1575. It was considered by Sinan
to be his masterpiece and is one of
the highest achievements of Islamic
architecture.
The mosque’s main structure consists
of a succession of 18 small domes
dominated by a huge central dome.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mosque of Selim II
Sinan (architect), Edirne, Turkey.
c 1568-1575 CE. Brick and stone.
Beneath the main dome, which is
supported by eight columns placed
close to the walls—an innovation at
the time—is the sanctuary, a large
square space. Four tall, slender,
three-balconied minarets on the
structure’s corners contrast with the
mass of domes and half-domes.
The mosque forms an architectural
whole, with adjacent
complementary buildings, including
a school, a library, and a theological
college, now housing
archaeological and ethnographic
museums.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mosque of Selim II
Sinan (architect), Edirne, Turkey.
c 1568-1575 CE. Brick and stone.
Beneath the main dome, which is
supported by eight columns placed
close to the walls—an innovation at
the time—is the sanctuary, a large
square space. Four tall, slender,
three-balconied minarets on the
structure’s corners contrast with the
mass of domes and half-domes.
The mosque forms an architectural
whole, with adjacent
complementary buildings, including
a school, a library, and a theological
college, now housing
archaeological and ethnographic
museums.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
MANNERISM
Period from High Renaissance (1520) to
Baroque (1590)
Comes from the Italian maniera, or "style," in
the sense of an artist's characteristic "touch"
or recognizable "manner."
Elongated proportions
Intense contrast & lighting
Twisted poses
Keywords: Busy, Dark, Twisted, Shadows,
Dramatic, Clouds, Asymmetrical
Parmigianino, Madonna with the Long
Neck, 1534-40.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Examples of Mannerist
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Tintoretto, The Last Supper, 1592-94, Oil on Canvas.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
El Greco
Nicknamed “The Greek”, he was born
in Greece and lived in Italy, but
created most of his mature pieces in
Madrid and Toledo (Spain)
El Greco, Portrait of a Man
(presumed self-portrait of El Greco),
circa 1595–1600, oil on canvas.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
El Greco, Assumption of the Virgin, 1577.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz,
1586-88.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
El Greco, The Holy Trinity,1577-79, oil on
canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Rosso Fiorentino
(meaning "the Red
Florentine" in Italian)
Rosso Fiorentino. Deposition. 1521,
Oil on wood..
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Compare Fiorentino’s Deposition to
Van der Weyden’s Deposition…
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Rosso Fiorentino, Moses Defending the
Daughters of Jethro, c1523 at the Uffizi
Gallery, Florence.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Jacopo da Pontormo
Born Jacopo Carucci in Pontormo
Jacopo Pontormo, Deposition from the
Cross, 1525-1528. MANNERISM
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Jacopo Pontormo, Deposition from the
Cross (Entombment of Christ),
Oil on wood. 1525-1528. MANNERISM
This painting suggests a whirlwind of grief. They
inhabit a flattened space with bright colors. The
center of the composition droops down towards
the limp body of Jesus off center in the left.
Those lowering Christ appear to demand our
help in sustaining the weight of his twisted body.
No Cross is visible; the natural world itself also
appears to have nearly vanished: only a lonely
cloud exists as bright swathes of pink and blue
envelop the pallid, limp Christ. The Virgin, larger
than her counterparts, swoons sideways inviting
the support of those behind her; the Swoon of
the Virgin was a controversial moment at the
time. The assembly looks completely
interlocked, but ultimately, the most compelling
and empathic figure is the crouching man in the
foreground, whose expression mixes the weight
of the cadaver and the weight of melancholy.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Il Gesu, 1550s. MANNERISM
MANNERIST
ARCHITECTURE
Went against the grain of
Renaissance Architecture by
using Classical forms in illogical
ways
This is mostly due to the style
being used only for secular
purposes
Symmetrical but highly
ornamental
Colossal order
“Blind Windows”
Il Gesu, 1550s. MANNERISM
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Il Gesu, 1550s. MANNERISM
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Il Gesu, 1550s. MANNERISM
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Giovanni Battista Gaulli
The Triumph of the Name of Jesus
Il Gesù ceiling fresco, 1672-1685
This fresco is not Mannerist in time or
style, but by far Gaulli’s best work. Gaulli's
nave masterpiece is an allegory of the
work of the Jesuits that envelops
worshippers (or observers) below into the
whirlwind of devotion. The vault of the
nave at the Gesù was finally unveiled on
Christmas Eve of 1679. A multi-media
extravaganza of fresco painting, stucco,
and architecture, it is a masterpiece of
illusionism. It is as if the gilded stucco
decoration of the ceiling, supported by
white stucco angels, has opened up giving
a vision of the heavens.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Giovanni Battista Gaulli
The Triumph of the Name of Jesus
Il Gesù ceiling fresco, 1672-1685
The angels are the work of Ercole
Antonio Raggi, right-hand man to
Bernini, another reminder of the close
link between Gaulli and his mentor. At
the centre the monogram of the Jesuits,
IHS – an abbreviation of Christ’s name
– radiates blinding light and cherubim.
To the left, projecting out from the field
of the painting, the Magi proffer their
gifts to the name of Christ. The great
theatrical effect here inspired and
developed under his mentor, prompted
critics to label Gaulli a "Bernini in paint"
or a "mouthpiece of Bernini's ideas".
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Giovanni Battista Gaulli
The Triumph of the Name of Jesus
Il Gesù ceiling fresco, 1672-1685
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
San Giovani in Laterano (Mannerism)
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
MANNERIST
SCULPTURE
This version of the Rape of the Sabine Women
has a vertical, spiraling composition that displays
figura serpentinata (a twisting of the figures
much like a serpent or snake).
This statue depicts the story of how the Roman
men made peace with the neighboring Sabines
by abducting their women to take back as wives
and populate Rome.
Giovanni Bologna, Rape of the Sabine
Women, 1574-82. MANNERISM
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART
Mannerism
Mannerism in Review
Let’s recap MANNERISM:
1.Figures are elongated and
disproportionate
2.Asymmetrical (or even unbalanced)
compositions
3.Unusual light sources (often unnatural or
artificial)
4.Figura Serpentinata (Twisting of the body
poses)
Parmigianino, Madonna with the Long
Neck, 1534-40.
MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART