The word mannerism hails from the Italian, maniera, meaning style, or stylish, and is generally thought to have followed the period of High Renaissance art, and immediately preceded the Baroque period.
The early 16th century was a time of political upheaval and change in Europe. Martin Luther was forging the way for the Reformation and the Catholic Church was beginning to lose it's foothold in Europe. The 1527 Sacking of Rome, an invasion of Habsburg troops, caused many artists there at the time, to abandon Rome and head for other parts of Italy or Europe. The new style, now called Mannerism, began to spread through the princely courts of Italy, but was prominent in Florence, and in Florentine artists (Janson's pg. 346, 347).
While the Renaissance focused on naturalism and humanism in art, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker mention, in a KhanAcademy video (see url below, Sources), when discussing Mannerist artist, Parmigianino, Mannerism vaulted in the opposite direction, distorting images and emotions to underline and complicate elegance and the human form.
Below is an example, Parmigianino's "Madonna of the Long Neck", (ca. 1530-33)
We can see some distinct distortions at play, in the Madonna above... as the title suggests, her neck IS very long, in addition, her head is quite small, in proportion to her body, which is very voluptuous, with more than ample enough lap, to hold the over-sized body, of the Christ Child. Just touching on a couple of aspects of the use of distortion in this work, while there is no denying the beauty of the subjects, the bodies and parts of the bodies are very unrealistic, in proportion to each other. In terms of emotion, despite the fact that it looks as though the Madonna is possibly holding a dead Christ Child, the look on her face conveys, not a sense of outrage or intense grief, but rather, she looks quite serene, almost satisfied with the situation. The subjects are not reacting in a realistic way, to the scene they are in.
Mannerism seems to have very consciously moved away from the Renaissance and it's portrayal of reality in it's natural state, and began to explore the human form and it's surroundings, in a more idealized, dramatic way.
Above is a painting by Florentine artist, Agnolo Bronzino, ca. 1545., Eleonora di Toledo with Her Giovanni. The portrait was is of the wife and son of Cosimo Medici, of the Florentine Medici Dynasty. Here is a portrait of a mother with her son, yet it is totally devoid of any emotion that we imagine, would dominate that relationship, like, for example, love. Rather, here is a woman, aloof and cold, whose posture reflects a strictness that is almost alarming. The child is noticeably detached from her, they do not seem to be together, yet they are physically touching. They are too perfect, almost inhuman, yet simultaneously beautiful to look at. The juxtaposition of the subject matter and the result are very heavy. We often think of portraits being commissioned not only to commemorate someone, but to immortalize them, in a way that photographs and film do now. It is unlikely that this is a realistic portrayal of the subjects, but I doubt it would have survived, if it had not been wholeheartedly approved of, by Cosimo Medici, who commissioned the work, or his wife. You might say, Mannerism was, at times, a bit like the PhotoShop of the 16th Century!
Sources
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/parmigianinos-madonna-of-the-long-neck.html
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/bronzino-portrait-of-eleonora-di-toledo-with-her-giovanni.html
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/mannerism.htm#definition
Janson's Basic History of Western Art, Eighth Edition, copyright 2009, Pearson Education Ltd.,
pgs. 346, 347, 357
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