Mannerism in the Late Renaissance

            The Late Renaissance plays host to a new style of art that begins to develop in Italy as a response to the unease caused by Protestantism. This emerging style is known as Mannerism. Mannerism moves away from the reborn classicism of the High Renaissance and aims/tends to be more artificial. Representations of the human figure usually appear in unnatural or uncomfortable poses, making compositions seem unstable. It is also not uncommon for figures to be elongated or have unrealistic body proportions in the Mannerism movement. These imperfect, twisted bodies (and Mannerism art in general) have been called elegant as well as visual jokes. Pontormo’s Entombment and Bronzimo’s Allegory with Venus and Cupid are two painting that exemplify the notion of Mannerism as an artifice.

            Pontormo’s piece, Entombment, displays characteristics of the Mannerism style in that we can see many figures whirling in poses unlikely to be possible in reality. This creates a sense of instability and, therefore, tension in the piece. First, in the foreground at the bottom, we see a crouching man bearing the weight of Christ’s body on his shoulders, yet all this weight appears to be supported by only a few of his toes. Most of the figures seem elongated as well, especially the Virgin, who is depicted larger than the figures surrounding her and Christ (who also looks slightly larger than his counterparts). The figures in the foreground also show proportions that look off, mostly with their feet, and mostly with the man on the left that is carrying Christ by the arms. The woman swooning over the Virgin and outward at the viewer at the top of the painting is another figure who is unrealistically posed. If this were a real scene in life, she looks like she would fall over. In the painting, she looks unbalanced.

            As we move on to Bronzimo’s work, we see many similarities in comparison with Pontormo’s in representing characteristics of Mannerism, especially since Bronzimo was the apprentice of Pontormo. In the allegorical painting of Venus and Cupid, we see many twisted and abnormal positions for the human body. It might also be considered twisted in its content: the incest concerning Cupid and the Venus his mother. The most obvious flaw is the awkward position of Cupid as he kisses his mother. As he leans almost behind her, he looks like he is unbalanced and would fall in the real world, much like some of the figures in Entombment. Together, they are in a typical pose in Mannerism known as figura serpentinata—a sort of spiraling pose similar to contrapposto. There is also the fact that the body of Cupid is out of proportion with his head. It seems as though his body is portrayed like that of an older child’s and his head is like a toddler’s. In the upper right, a bearded man representing Time (note the hourglass on his back) extends and twists his arm in an elegant fashion to grasp the blue drapery that acts as a sort of backdrop.
            In each painting exist numerous characteristics that can be identified to the style of Mannerism. Considering they indeed came from the Late Renaissance and these artists worked together, this is no surprise.