Mannerism was a style of European art that developed in Italy in the 1520s, as the High Renaissance of Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo gave way to a more artificial, self-conscious manner. Artists such as Pontormo, Parmigianino, Rosso Fiorentino and Bronzino painted elongated figures in twisting poses, with bright, unnatural colors and crowded or ambiguous spaces. Rather than aiming for calm harmony, they displayed technical virtuosity and elegance, sometimes with a strained or enigmatic mood. The style spread beyond Italy, influencing the school of Fontainebleau in France, artists in the Netherlands and El Greco in Spain. By about 1600 it was replaced by the more dramatic and direct art of the Baroque.
Before and after
- 1519Birth of Jacopo Tintoretto
- from February 1519 to August 1521Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
- 2 May 1519Death of Leonardo da Vinci
- from 10 August 1519 to 8 September 1522Magellan-Elcano expedition
- from 1520 to 1600Mannerism
- from 1520 to 1648Sultanate of Women
- 1520Stockholm Bloodbath
- 6 April 1520Death of Raphael
- from 30 June 1520 to 1 July 1520La Noche Triste
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 6 August 1538Founding of Bogotá
- 1541Founding of Santiago
- from 1547 to 1721Tsardom of Russia
- from c. 1583 to 1997British Empire
- 1623Founding of Barbados
- 29 March 1693Founding of Curitiba
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.