High Renaissance & Mannerism

In Madonna of the Long Neck you can tell by observing it that the artist has created a different piece then what has been normally presented.The colors also in Parmigianino's work are more vibrant.The way the Madonna's head is positioned gives her a awkward look while the baby is completely out of proportion.The piece still uses linear perspective like artists in the renaissance used, making the audience feel as if they could step into the work. In reference to Michelangelo's later work and treatment of the body, the thighs are unnaturally large on the Madonna and with Michelangelo he gives the body a more definition and it becomes more muscular. Mannerist paintings and sculptures looks more carefree and well defined compared to Renaissance art.

Renaissance vs. Mannerism

High Renaissance art was realistic and the artists tried to create naturalistic works of art and something that you would see in real life. A shift from realistic artwork to more unrealistic artwork came with the transition from the High Renaissance to the Mannerism period. Michelangelo liked to depict people in really contorted and twisted positions in his later artwork, which is unrealistic of how people would ever really be positioned. He had an influence on Mannerism because of this unrealistic way of viewing the human body. Mannerism art is unrealistic and exaggerates certain features of the human body. The Madonna of the Long Neck shows how this style is unrealistic with the way the bodies are unproportionate. The woman's neck is longer than what would be considered realistic and proportional to the rest of her body. Her body, and the body of the baby especially, seem to be extra long. The length of the baby's torso, arms and legs do not seem to fit with his head and feet. Also, the baby looks really uncomfortable the way he is positioned and twisted in her lap. To me, this idea of creating artwork to be realistic or unrealistic seems to be the biggest difference between the High Renaissance and the Mannerism period.

High Renaissance vs. Mannerism

Art during the High Renaissance is that which was focused on human beings and portraying them naturally. Artists during this time began to use linear perspective by making their creations look 3-Dimensional on a 2-Dimensional surface. They were focused on the content and context of what they were creating because they wanted their work to appear as natural and real to what they were trying to depict. One piece of work that we can see this effort to create a realistic look is Michelangelo's, David. For this piece Michelangelo thought that this sculpture was going to be placed above everyone who observed it, so when he created the hand he made it bigger than normal, so that when those who looked up at the sculpture would see the hand as of normal proportion to the body. The reason that Michelangelo created the hand like that was so the body would be proportional to the rest of the body, and so the sculpture would seem natural. This is opposite of how Mannerism art worked.

Mannerism art was not always proportional. We can identify Mannerism in the Madonna of Long Neck by Mary's long neck and extra wide hips. Jesus also looks very unrealistic and un-proportional. Jesus, painted on Mary's lap, is much larger looking than an infant. Mannerism pieces seemed to go over the top of what was typical. Artists of this time would take what was normal and expected and push the limits just a little further. For example, in the Madonna of Long Neck, there is an "angel" with much of her leg exposed, which was very revealing for that time.

Mannerism works seem to be a little more exaggerated with the human body and it's positions especially. Michelangelo's art work during the Renaissance time also began to exaggerate some of the human body (especially the muscles). It wasn't until the time of Mannerism though, that Michelangelo really exaggerated the muscles of the human body.

Mannerism and High Renaissance

By looking at mannerism and high renaissance artwork we can see many differences and some similarities between the two. The high renaissance style is more natural looking with natural positions and when looking at the artwork it is very inviting and pleasant to look at. An example of high renaissance art would be Raphael's Mary with Jesus. Mary is very motherly and kind looking while Jesus is very baby-like even though he has a few more muscles than a normal baby would. This shows that while high renaissance art is very naturalistic, it is not always realistic. The mannerism style is very odd looking, with the people in uncomfortable postitions and the body parts are not proportional. When looking at the artwork it gives one an awkward feeling. Paramigianina's Madonna of the Long Neck shows the odd proportions with Madonna's head being small on a very long, thin neck. Her hips are very wide in comparison to her upper body. The baby is very lengthened seeming not baby-like at all. They are similar because both styles are usually on the same subject matter.

Mannerism vs. High Renaissance

Just from looking at the artwork, there is a clear difference between the High Renaissance style and the Mannerism style. The High Renaissance seems to prefer portraying the human body as naturally as possible. For example, Raphael's image of Mary with Jesus portrays them as looking natural, meaning that is what a mother and her child would look like if you saw them in real life. While the Mannerism style allows the artist to portray the body as they choose. Paramigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck is a prime example of the Mannerist style. Paramigianino lengthened the bodies of both Mary and her baby, causing them to seem almost in human. Mannerism also portrayed the body in contorted poses that would be awkward for a real person to pose in. Michelangelo's sculptures of Night and Day on the Tomb of Giuliani de' Medici show how the bodies were contorted into poses that seem unnatural.

High Renaissance vs Mannerism

While looking at the Renaissance and Mannerism artwork, I can definitely notice some differences. In the High Renaissance, the artwork was highly praised for its naturalism and was very balanced and harmonious. The artists of this time period, worked very hard to make everything appear very natural, the way it would be found in the everyday world. Michelangelo even used optics for the big hands to appear a normal size in his work of David. He tried to represent every little detail and be anatomically correct, especially when the sculptures or paintings had people in odd positions. Mannerism art seems to focus more on emotions and the artistic effect rather than naturalism. The artists deliberately painted distorted positions in irrational spaces, sometimes the forms were elongated or even looked contorted. The anatomy was definitely not up to Michelangelo’s par. Whereas he was anatomically correct down to every last muscle, they used very abnormal anatomy. Mannerism also seems to use clashing colors.

Parmigianino’s Madonna of the Long Neck really represents these interpretations. She has a neck that is so elongated and unrealistic to the natural body. Mary herself is huge, she is almost twice the size of the angels to her right. The baby, Jesus, is also quite large. If you look closely, and attempted to stand him up, he would be about half the size of Mary! He also is an a very awkward position on her lap, and appears as if he could fall at any moment. The colors all appear to be very dark, with much less background.

Mannerism art seems to be exaggerating the realistic view of humans, but in my opinion, Michelangelo’s later Renaissance works seem to exaggerate real human bodies in his own way. He maintains correct anatomy, but takes it to the extreme. He makes the men’s muscles too big and bulky, and even makes the girl appear to have masculine muscles as well, which was probably not the case with the women of that age.

High Renaissance vs Mannerism

Art during the high renaissance era was the rebirth of classical tradition which moved into Michelangelo’s mannerism where the artist was more focused on the form of the human body. Noticeably there was an increase in detail from making the muscles clearly defined on the body. Michelangelo had a fascination with the male body. This fascination was clearly shown through his works of art where the form of the male body was shown. Michelangelo's style even when displaying a woman’s figure, was a noticeably male form influence, like in the Sistine Chapel. In additions many of the positions of the figures were awkward and in the sense would be uncomfortable. Which seems to draw the attention of spectators more into the piece.

In the Madonna of the Long Neck, the title describes the work of art. Although there is still this naturalistic perspective about the piece, the body proportions are obviously exaggerated, from the long neck, hands, torso, and even the baby. The piece still uses linear perspective like artists in the renaissance used, making the audience feel as if they could step into the work. High renaissance was a foundation for a more expressive style of art like mannerism.

Mannerism vs. Renaissance Art

Kayleigh.. well said!!

Renaissance art valued much of what we talked about in class, including naturalistic and illusionistic characteristics. Artists aimed to create what they observed, without exaggeration. Working to decieve the eye, artists played with the idea of optics in order to create illusions that would convey realistic works. An example of these illusions is the large hands that Michelangelo sculpted on David so that when viewed from the ground, the hands would appear in proportion with the rest of the body.

Mannerism appears to be less realistic. The people are more slender and their body parts are not in proportion. The artist is creating works based on the way that they want them portrayed, which seems to be more dramatic. The drama can be seen in the painting Modonna of the Long Neck. As the name implys, the woman has a long neck. The "baby" is also completely out of proportion. Michelangelo has influenced many of these works as well. He valued human anatomy and often sculpted/painted humans in contorted, uncomfortable positions, as we see in the sculptures on the Medici tomb. Body parts are elongated and exaggerated. Mannerist artists also bring more light and brightness into their works.

As Renaissance art progresses into Mannerism it seems as though the artist is beginning to gain more control over their own works. As exemplified through Michelangelo's works on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, artists did not always want to create works that were realistic.

High Renaissance/Mannerism

In Madonna of the Long Neck one can tell simply by looking at it that the artist has created his own reality and did not paint what he saw exactly. The colors also in Parmigianino's work are more vibrant. The way the Madonna's head is positioned gives her a regal pose but the child on her lap just plain looks freaky! On both the child and the Madonna the torso is elongated causing the child to look older than a child that would still not have hair. In reference to Michelangelo's later work and treatment of the body, the thighs are unnaturally large on the Madonna. Mannerist works also look more carefree and whimsical compared to Renaissance art.

High Renaissance & Mannerism

High Renaissance art was very realistic, the goal of artist during this time was to create a naturalistic view of the human body. I also feel that during the time of the high renaissance brighter colors were used, in comparison to the Mannerism period where i feel the colors were much duller. Mannerism was NOT reality, although paintings, etc. were still "realistic" they were known for portraying bigger bodies and bodies that were disproporationate, for example longer necks and legs. I also noticed that the period of Mannerism paid attention to decoration more so then the High Renaissance,  jerwely and gems, etc. were portrayed more in the works of art.

Mannerism & High Renaissance

The art that was created during the High Renaissance focused on reviving and improving the Classical principals, creating a naturalistic view of the human body and the importance of an educated artist. Works such as David were meant to show the Classical image of the body and told a Classical story in a new way. Several art works, including School of Athens by Raphael and Venus of Urbino by Titian, presented the topic of depicting the nude human body in a naturalistic light. During this time, it was also important for artist to know what had come before them, so they could produce it better.

As the times changed so did the art work and after the High Renaissance came the movement known as Mannerism. This movement focused on elongated and disproportionate bodies, contortion the body into twisted positions and the value of technical expertise. The painting of Madonna of the Long Neck by Parmigianino is a perfect example of Mannerism art. Madonna and child are both depicted with suck disproportion that the audience wonders how the baby stays on her lap. The ladies that surround her as well have such elongated legs that they become a distraction.

During both movements Michelangelo was a working artist who really flowed into this change with his works. The Sistine Chapel is a great example of the values that the High Renaissance art possessed. As as artist he would have to be educated in religion, philosophy and what other artist before him did in order to create the images and stories from the Bible onto the ceiling. He was also so interested in the male nude body that he constantly tried to rework and recreate positions that the body could be presented in. As time went on he took this passion for the body and really pushed it into a whole new level during Mannerism. In his Night and Day sculptures he "beefs up" the body so that one can see all the muscles, puts the body into these twisted and unrealistic positions and elongated certain body parts so that they become disproportionate.

These two movements truly valued very different aspects of art and art making but both valued a sense of artistic expertise and knoweldge of other artist and historical and biblical events.

High Renaissance and Mannerism

Looking at the two artworks of the Madonna of the Long Neck the main difference I picked out was that the woman was sitting up taller in the Mannerism work and in the one by Michelangelo the woman seems to be hunched over a bit.In the Parmigianino the woman is clearly pushing her neck up farther. The same situation with the pictures by Titian and Correggio. In the painting done by Titian, the woman is laying on the bed and then in the Correggio painting the woman is sitting more upright. Also, dealing with the same paintings, I noticed more people in the mannerism painting than in the high renaissance painting. Finally, the colors look to be brighter in the mannerism paintings than in the high renaissance ones. They use the same sorts of colors, but I think they are brighter.

The portraits done by Bronzino I thought looked more real and life like compared to the renaissance portraits. There is more detail and color in the mannerism portraits.

The similarities between the two paintings are again the same types of colors are used in the paintings. I can definitely see the influence by Michelangelo. In my opinion they both have the same feelings conveyed. When it comes to the treatment of the bodies I did not see as much of a muscular body type in the men in the pictures in the PowerPoint. In the mannerism paintings there was more clothing on people and the women looked to be painted the same or at least very similar to the high renaissance period.

Lisa Shoemaker

Michelangelo and the development of Mannerism

The powerpoint images we looked at during the end of class today (Wed.) are up on blackboard. Look at, in particular, the Madonna of the Long Neck and discuss its similarities and differences to Renaissance art. Do you see references to the later work of Michelangelo, especially his treatment of the body?