In this part of our look at Mannerism, we focus on the innovative techniques and lasting influence of this artistic movement. Mannerist artists revolutionised the use of perspective and space. They broke with traditional rules and experimented with unusual perspectives and spatial arrangements to make their works more dynamic and emotionally charged. One example of this is Parmigianino’s “Madonna with the Long Neck”, in which the distorted perspective and unusual composition of the figures challenge the norms of the time.
The use of light in Mannerism also deserves special attention. Artists such as El Greco used light to create drama and emphasise the emotional undertones of their works. This use of light and shadow would later have a strong influence on Baroque artists.
Mannerism also had a significant influence on the development of European art. The move away from the idealised representational forms of the Renaissance towards a more expressive and subjective style paved the way for later art movements such as the Baroque and Rococo periods. The bold experiments in form, colour and composition found in Mannerism pushed the boundaries of what was considered possible in art and opened up new avenues of expression for artists of subsequent generations.
To summarise, Mannerism was not just a period of transition, but a time of artistic revolution that had a lasting impact on European art.