The two most famous Mannerist architects were Michelangelo and Giulio Romano. Michelangelo's most noted design was the Laurentian Library (1523-1568), which he began in 1523 after receiving a commission from Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici family.The term mannerism describes the style of the paintings and bronze sculpture on this tour. Derived from the Italian maniera, meaning simply “style,” mannerism is sometimes defined as the “stylish style” for its emphasis on self-conscious artifice over realistic depiction.
Mannerism originated as a reaction to the harmonious classicism and the idealized naturalism of High Renaissance art as practiced by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael in the first two decades of the 16th century.
noun. a habitual or characteristic manner, mode, or way of doing something; distinctive quality or style, as in behavior or speech: He has an annoying mannerism of tapping his fingers while he talks. They copied his literary mannerisms but always lacked his ebullience.
Mannerism, also known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it.
Slender, elongated limbs, splayed, twisting and turning bodies, contradicting all the traditional laws of proportion, are a characteristic of Mannerism. Parmigianino - of the Parma School of painting (1520-50) - was another painter who gave his Madonna unusually long limbs.
