Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 12e Chapter 22 Beauty, Science, and Spirit in Italian Art: The High Renaissance and Mannerism Part 3

Other 16th-Century Italian Artists In The Madonna of the Harpies, the sphinxes in this Andrea del Sarto painting were misidentified as harpies. The composition is based on a massive and imposing figure pyramid, the static qualities of which are relieved by the opposing contrapposto poses of the flanking saints - a favorite and effective High Renaissance device to introduce symmetry. In addition to pulling together many stylistic trends, including those of Leonardo, Raphael, and the Venetians, Correggio also created the illusion that the dome of the Parma Cathedral has disappeared and in its place is a vision of the Assumption of the Virgin. His style is sometimes called "proto-Baroque."

ANDREA DEL SARTO, Madonna of the Harpies, 1517. Oil on wood, approx ANDREA DEL SARTO, Madonna of the Harpies, 1517. Oil on wood, approx. 6’ 9” x 5’ 10”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Center detail with Madonna and Child © 2005 Saskia Cultural Documentation, Ltd.

Correggio (1489--1534) His style includes elements of Leonardo, Raphael, and the Venetians. His own style points toward the Baroque. He is especially known for his illusionistic ceiling perspectives. Jupiter and Io Erotic mythological subject sensual vision out of pagan past; from a series on the Loves of Jupiter. In the myth, Jupiter forms a cloud that embraces the nymph. The soft, smoky modeling sfumato derived from Leonardo, is fused with glowing color

Antonio da Correggio, Assumption of the Virgin, dome fresco of the Parma Cathedral, 1526—1530.

Assumption of the Virgin Antonio da Correggio, 1526- 1530 Fresco 1093 × 1195 cm Cathedral of Parma

Mannerism Mannerism emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it. Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals and restrained naturalism associated with artists such as Leonardo, Raphael and early Michelangelo. Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities. Mannerist art and architecture generally places an emphasis on staged and contrived imagery, on elegance and beauty, on imbalanced compositions, and on unusual visual and conceptual complexities. Space in Mannerist paintings may appear ambiguous, and traditional themes may be presented in unconventional or unexpected ways. Mannerist art may be restless, with figures shown distorted, exaggerated, and with affected but often sinuously graceful postures. Mannerism's requirement of "invention" led artists to produce self-conscious stylizations involving complexity, caprice, fantasy, elegance, perfectionism, and polish.

The figures crowded into Pontormo's Descent from the Cross are disposed in a shallow, ambiguous space around the frame of the picture, leaving a void in the center of the composition. The twisting, bending figures, painted in clashing colors, have elongated limbs and small, oval heads. JACOPO DA PONTORMO, Descent from the Cross, Capponi Chapel, Santa Felicità, Florence, Italy, 1525–1528. Oil on wood, approx. 10’ 3” x 6’ 6”.

The body of the Madonna in Parmigianino's unfinished Madonna with the Long Neck has been artificially attenuated to create an elegant and exquisitely graceful figure. PARMIGIANINO, Madonna with the Long Neck, ca. 1535. Oil on wood, approx. 7’ 1” x 4’ 4”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

In the following painting, Bronzino demonstrated the Mannerist's fondness for extremely learned and intricate allegories that often had lascivious undertones. BRONZINO, Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time (The Exposure of Luxury), ca. 1546. Oil on wood, approx. 5’ 1” x 4’ 8 3/4”. National Gallery, London.

A staid and reserved formality is a standard component of Mannerist portraits. BRONZINO, Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1530s. Oil on wood, approx. 3’ 1 1/2” x 2’ 5 1/2”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA, Portrait of the Artist’s Sisters and Brother, ca SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA, Portrait of the Artist’s Sisters and Brother, ca. 1555. Methuen Collection, Corsham Court, Wiltshire.

Mannerist Sculpture and Architecture Perhaps the greatest of the mannerist sculptors was Benvenuto Cellini. He was, first of all, a goldsmith. Michelangelo’s influence led Cellini to attempt larger works, and in the service of Francis I, king of France, he cast in bronze Genius of Fountainbleau. It shows a reclining nude female figure of Genius with a small head and an attenuated body. Giovanni da Bologna's large-scale marble sculpture Abduction of the Sabine Women shows two men and a woman interlocked in a spiraling vertical composition that encourages viewing from multiple viewpoints. Mannerist architecture uses classical architectural elements in a highly personal and unorthodox manner. Giulio Romano's design for the Palazzo del Tè in Mantua includes a number of unconventional and humorously eccentric structural features such as slipping keystones, voussoirs in horizontal pediments, and large Tuscan columns carrying incongruously narrow architraves that appear to break midway between the columns and seem unable to support the weight of the triglyphs above.

Figure 22-47 BENVENUTO CELLINI, Genius of Fontainebleau, 1543–1544 Figure 22-47 BENVENUTO CELLINI, Genius of Fontainebleau, 1543–1544. Bronze, 6' 8 3/4" x 13' 5". Louvre, Paris.

Figure 22-47 Alternate View Total (without antlers) © 2005 Saskia Cultural Documentation, Ltd. Figure 22-47 Alternate View Total (without antlers)

Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa in the Loggia dei Lanzi , gallery on the edge of the Piazza del la Signoria in Florence.

GIOVANNI DA BOLOGNA, Abduction of the Sabine Women, Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy, completed 1583. Marble, approx. 13’ 6” high.

GIULIO ROMANO, interior courtyard facade of the Palazzo del Tè, Mantua, Italy, 1525–1535.

Figure 22-49 Alternate View General View, E side of main courtyard © 2005 Saskia Cultural Documentation, Ltd. Figure 22-49 Alternate View General View, E side of main courtyard

Giacomo della Porta's design for the façade of il Gesù unites the lower and upper stories through scroll buttresses and uses a progressive accumulation of pilasters and columns and bay decoration that builds to a dramatic climax at the central bay. Rome, Italy, ca. 1575–1584.

GIACOMO DA VIGNOLA, plan of Il Gesù, Rome, Italy, 1568.* Giacomo da Vignola's plan for Il Gesù is dominated by a huge nave space and a domed crossing. It anticipates the baroque era to come. GIACOMO DA VIGNOLA, plan of Il Gesù, Rome, Italy, 1568.*