El Greco
Laocoön
Image courtesy of
The National Gallery of Art, U.S.A
Geographic Center:
Venice
Background:
Near the end of the 1520s, Italy lost its economic domination. Attitudes changed
and the optimistic views of the Renaissance vanished. This was the time preceding
the Protestant Reformation where the brilliance of the Renaissance was fading.
Effect on Faces and Figures:
Mannerism covered both the Renaissance and Baroque
time periods, but many pieces did not fit with the characteristics of either
of these two movements, and thus Mannerism was created to describe them. Art
took on a darker tone, and the realism of the Renaissance style was replaced
by something more fantastic. El Greco's work defines Mannerist styles. Elongated
figures, strange composition, vivid color, and a sense of fantasy create the
power of emotion in Mannerist art. Some artists such as Raphael
and Michelangelo, who are defined as artists
of the High Renaissance painted with many characteristics
of mannerism.
The term itself is vague, but the style involved something that was contradictory
to the Renaissance. The resulting images were artificial in appearance, and
in the time of religious reformation, it is set out to contradict some growing
movements. The style created the Baroque era, which was a reaction to the
falseness of the images of the Mannerist period.
Famous Artists:
El Greco, Tintoretto
