Recognizing the Differences in Art from the High Renaissance and Art from the Mannerism Period

This is just some more fascinating art history stuff. This was my fourth written assignment I've had to write out of the total of 18 that I must have completed by December 8th. Time management is crucial. The professor said my other three write-ups were lacking in detail about the paintings. So, I tried to really look carefully at these for awhile until I noticed more and more details that I could write about. This class is really making me want to visit Italy someday and see the originals. The professor says that the painter Rafael was such a genius that when you view his original paintings there is no evidence of a single brush-stroke. You just see color. Here goes...

The “High Renaissance” period differs from the period of Mannerism in both years and painting styles. The High Renaissance in Italian art covers a period of time between the 1490s to approximately 1527, or the time of the Sack of Rome by the troops of Emperor Charles V.[1] The art during the High Renaissance was recognizably balanced and harmonious. An example of High Renaissance art that will be explored is The Small Cowper Madonna (c. 1505) by Rafaello Santi or Sanzio. Mannerism, on the other hand, was a term used to describe a time when artists works appeared more disjointed than balanced, and correlates directly to the political and social anxieties of the society at that time. A work of art characteristic of the Mannerism period with all the features typical of such is the Entombment (c. 1525-28) by Jacopo da Pontormo, and will be discussed below.

High Renaissance art was to represent the highest ideals in life. The mathematical perspectives were perfect. The subjects were featured as content and in harmony with the other subjects in the paintings. There was balance and clear margins between the focus of the art and the edge of the painting. No figures were ever cut-off at the edge or only partially shown. Every technique that improved upon the art that had gone before was incorporated to produce the highest idealistic art that could be created. This was the High Renaissance.

The work, The Small Cowper Madonna is a perfect representation of the harmony, balance, and peaceful contentment reflected in High Renaissance art. The Virgin mother’s mood is that of complete calm and serenity as she is seen with only one hand open and the child seated within it. Her four fingers make contact with the child and her thumb is extended further signifying her confidence in the ongoing embrace of the Child’s hand around her own neck. She shows no fear that the child will fall nor does she show doubt that he will loosen his grasp and leave her. The Virgin’s right hand exhibits no need for control over the child, but is laid palm-down and provides a gentle “step up.” The Child appears to move naturally closer to its mother to complete the embrace, and perhaps bring his sweet left hand around to meet his little right hand, around Mother’s neck. Though the Child appears to be moving, to add to the balance and harmony of the theme, both Mother and Child appear to have their eyes on the same subject. They are united in every way. They are clearly Mother and Child as they possess identical eye features and hair color. The artwork is natural and pleasant to look upon. The colors are complimentary, blend well, and are pleasing to the eye. These factors along with the dominant use of red and blue are very typical of the High Renaissance style.

Mannerism in Italian art lost all the balance and harmony of the High Renaissance period. Mannerism brought art with all of the opposite artistic principles seen in the High Renaissance art. The society was no longer in a state of peaceful contentment, but with the presence of chaos and unrest in everyday life, so also was chaos and unrest visible in the work of the artists. Mannerism was influenced by the attack on Rome as mentioned above, new outbreaks of the Plague, and the division between the followers of Martin Luther and those of the Roman Catholic Church which began the Reformation in October of 1527.[2] The stress and anxiety felt by citizens of that day concerned with fear for their lives, (whether from disease, war, or religious uprisings) is reflected by the artists. All of these concerns influenced the artists and produced a style described as Mannerism. “These so-called Mannerist painters used severe distortions of perspective and scale; complex and crowded compositions; strong, sometimes harsh or discordant colors; and elongated figures in exaggerated poses.”[3]

The Entombment, by Pontormo demonstrates the features of the Mannerism period. To begin with, the colors used are not complimentary. There are primary colors, as well as pastels and earth tones, all featured in the same work. Angels, which have previously been shown as gentle and fair and adorned in gold and white flowing apparel, are shown in this painting wearing a blue fabric with knots tied up in it. Harsh, blood-red pigment on what appears to be wings, on the angel on the left, are a great contrast to the angels seen in previous eras and styles, such as in Simone Martini’s The Annunciation (c. 1330). In the Entombment, some angels have veils, and some do not. The viewer assumes they are angels because of their presence at all different levels vertically (they appear to be “floating”) and the presence of some blue fabric on all of them which ties them all together chromatically. Some of the unsettling contrasts include the way that the clothing is shown as flowing while the boy’s clothing at the lower center is skin-tight. Part of the figures on both the left and right side of the painting are cut-off by the edge of the artwork, not seen in art of the high renaissance which features mathematical perspective to perfection. The art is unusually titled Entombment but features no cross and no tomb. Unlike previous artists’ renditions on the subject, Christ is not centered and the two figures holding his lifeless body (though they appear capable size-wise) are weighed down and halted, seemingly unable to carry his weight. This is a distraction to the theme of the death of Jesus Christ, and furthers adds to the chaotic lack of harmony within this work. There is confusion as to which figure is meant to be the Virgin mother, Mary. The viewer wants to focus in on the facial expressions of the Virgin mother, yet there are several figures that could be the mother. There is a female to the right of center who appears to be the mother and who is reaching. Yet, another figure at the top appears very characteristic of paintings of the Virgin mother, heavy with child. This adds to the confusion for there to appear a pregnant image at the top of the painting representing the time of Christ’s death. A mysterious and unsettling element is added with the one figure at the right, who has their back to the viewer, with the viewer unable to get any glimpse of their facial expression.

In conclusion, there are significant differences between the High Renaissance art and the Mannerism style of art. It is sad to imagine how such tremendous ideals of the High Renaissance could have been lost to the Mannerism period. As the stylistic changes in art correlated to the political and societal changes of the period, the viewer can only feel sympathy for the people of the time and what they must have had to endure.

[1] Stokstad, Marilyn, Art History, 3rd ed, Pearson Education, Inc..2008, Vol. 2, p. 662. [2] Internet source: http://www.angelo.edu/faculty/rprestia/1301/list_of_illustrations6.htm [3] Internet source: Boston College, http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/his/CoreArt/art/bar_bronz.html, November 27, 2006.