Mannerism During the Late Renaissance

Mannerism arose during the late Renaissance, first started in Italy and then traveled into Northern Europe. This period was mainly influenced by the Italians’ reaction of insecurity about Protestantism. They felt threatened while the northern Catholics were not as affected. Mannerism was a move away from harmony and balance which turned into uncomfortable, awkward and unbalanced compositions.  For my comparative analysis, I will discuss two mannerist paintings Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neck and Bronzino’s Allegory with Venus and Cupid.

The painting Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino is a great example of some mannerist art. One of the biggest signs of mannerism is that both the Madonna and the child are extremely elongated. The Madonna’s legs, her arms, her neck, nose, and even fingers are all longer than the normal human. The child is also laying on her in a strange position. It almost seems as if he is going to fall right onto the floor. The way the Madonna is just barely holding him by the neck and shoulders looks very unpleasing. Even the figure on the left is twisting in an uncomfortable way, and their leg is elongated as well. The single pillar in the background isn’t supporting anything. The viewer has no sense of there being a roof or ceiling; the pillar doesn’t meet up with anything. It doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps this painting is meant to create discomfort in looking upon protestant figures.

Similarly, Allegory with Venus and Cupid by Bronzino is full of mannerist characteristics and is perhaps the most extreme of them all. First of all, the image itself is a bit unsettling. This explicit incest relationship between mother and son is a bit disturbing. Cupid touches the Venus’s breast while her tongue slips out as he kisses her. The fact that both of their eyes are open makes the image all the more inappropriate. Another characteristic is the positions that both Venus and Cupid are posed in. Cupid seems to be a little elongated and is bending down and oddly twisting and embracing Venus. His farthest leg (his left) is still visible and appears to be resting on the pink pillow, but not all of his weight is on that left leg so that cannot be. The same goes for Venus. We cannot tell whether her legs are resting or if she is holding herself up by her knees. Her torso is angled and twisted in a painful looking way and her left arm hangs down holding the golden apple of discord. The child to the right is leading them on running up to throw rose petals at them. This character is known as Folly, or jest. The two masks down at the bottom right corner reinforce the deception portrayed in this image while the dove on the left takes form of the bottom of Cupid’s foot without even touching it. The background is just as un-peaceful. On the right, behind Folly, is a serpent-like creature with the head of a little girl staring blankly with a slight smile. She is twisting her right arm back behind her to push her tail with a stinger back. She had been referred to as Fraud and Pleasure. During the Renaissance, paintings were covered by curtains to temporarily conceal them. We see the same things repeated here where Time (on the right) and Truth (on the left) pull back the curtain to reveal such a horrid and unsettling moment.

Both of these works are of different subject matter but still give off a sense of awkwardness and hold unrealistic characteristics. Because these paintings are the outcome of mannerism, they do not make any sense and are difficult to understand. It was like a form of surrealism during the late renaissance.