Unique Mannerism and Beautiful Rococo Art

This quarter, I really enjoyed learning about the artworks from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. My favorite Baroque art was in the Rococo style. Some artworks during the Renaissance period did not interest me as much as others. For example, I was more drawn to the Mannerism style of art in Florence in Rome than I was to the High Renaissance art in southern Italy. I enjoyed the Mannerism art because of it's unique style to distort and manipulate accepted formal conventions, unlike High Renaissance artworks which depicted balance, idealism and lifelike references. Some of the Mannerist style paintings which I have enjoyed learning about are; Pontormo's Entombment and Parmigianino's  Madonna With The Long Neck.

Entombment is made of oil and tempera paint on wood. The composition of Entombment is random and scattered, with no definite shape. It seems like all of the figures in this painting, especially the man in the front, are set in very complex and uncomfortable positions that don't seem humanly possible, and look like they're about to fall out of the painting. The the expressions on the faces of every person depicted in this painting are sad, but dreamy, as if those people are waiting for something big to happen. I also liked this painting because of the brightly contrasting colors that were used to create it. It is very interesting to see people depicted in such an interesting style which catches the viewers eye and makes the viewer take a step backwards, away from the painting, so the figures in the painting don't land on him.


Madonna With The Long Neck was also made with oil on wood. Since it was the style of Mannerism, this painting is also very unrealistic and the figures of the figures are disproportional. When I looked at this painting for the first time, the first thing that I noticed is the sleeping baby in  Madonnas arms, which is way too big to be a baby when compared to the other figures also in the painting. Madonnas huge thighs were the next thing that I noticed and the fact that they don't look like they belong to the same person with a relatively small head, skinny fingers, and a long neck. Madonnas "sitting" position, with no chair underneath her, adds to the weirdness and unrealistic feel of the whole composition. 

Both of the paintings are perfect examples of the Mannerist style, which I enjoyed mostly because of the visual detail in them. They are very unrealistic, and contain figures in humanly impossible poses with disproportional bodies. These paintings are so far from realism and idealism that they make a viewer stop, look at them, and try to figure out what about the paintings is different and what is wrong with the way these people are painted.


The Baroque period introduced us to its own beautiful artworks which we haven't come across during the Renaissance period. I specifically liked the Rococo style and the artworks of Jean-Honore Fragonard. Fragonard's The Swing was intended to be sensually explicit. The subject of The Swing is a pretty young girl on a swing. Behind the girl, obscured by the shadow of the bushes, is an elderly bishop who is pushing her swing. In front of the girl is her lover, who is waiting in anticipation as the swing will be above him so that he may catch a glimpse beneath the girls skirts. The girl does not look shy at all. She even tosses one foot a little higher, which caused the shoe to fly off and at the same time, offering a better view to her lover, as the swing approaches him. The whole scene is somewhat humorous because it is obvious that the young man is enjoying the view, and yet he mockingly raises his hat in front of his face as if trying to shield his eyes from the view ahead. I enjoyed the Rococo artwork made by Fragonard because of the way everything in the image ties together to make one big scene filled with "anticipation and desire, as well as it maintains a sense of humor".