MANNERISM (circa 1520–1600)
Mannerism is an art movement that originated in Florence and Rome and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The movement developed from the High Renaissance and appears in painting, sculpture, architecture, and applied arts. Characteristic features include elongated body proportions, twisted poses, and intricate compositions. Artists used striking color contrasts and a spatial arrangement that sometimes appears deliberately unnatural. Biblical, mythological, and allegorical subjects provided scope for complex figure groups and allusions. In the Netherlands, the movement found its own distinct expression in Haarlem Mannerism, among others, which persisted into the early seventeenth century.
