Brimming with numerous illustrations and
essays, this lavish book brings together the best
in Mannerist art from the city of Florence, where
the movement was born. Emerging in the early 16th century on the heels of the
Renaissance, the mannerist style arose out of the art
world’s attempts to further the incredible achievements of
Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael. Mannerist art comprises
many facets: it is elegant, cultivated, and sophisticated but also
artificial, extravagant, and sometimes even bizarre. Some called
the art of Maniera "the stylish style." Spanning the period from
the return of the Medici in 1512 and the first tentative steps of
the new generation of artists to the definition of the Maniera
in Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists in 1568, more than 120
paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the world’s leading
museums are gathered in this book. It features works by Andrea
del Sarto, Rosso Fiorentino, and Giorgio Vasari with a special
focus on the work of Pontormo and Bronzino, the central figures
of Florentine mannerism. The developments in art during the
decades in question are closely related to the history of the
city of Florence. Refined elegance and creative extravagance
render the painters of the Maniera a particular phenomenon in
the art of Italy. This beautifully produced and authoritative book
presents the achievements and practitioners of one of the most
intriguing and influential periods in the history of European art.
