MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

The Codex’s frontispiece relates information about the organization and foundation of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, or the place of the prickly pear cactus. Tenochtitlan was established in the middle of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico in 1325. Given that much of the former Aztec capital is below modern-day Mexico City, the Codex Mendoza frontispiece corroborates other information we have about the capital city and its origins. For instance, it shows us a schematic diagram of Tenochtitlan, with the city divided into four parts by intersecting blue-green undulating diagonals. The city was made of canals, similar to the Italian city of Venice, and was divided into four quarters. The image displays the division of the city and the canals running through it. The division of the city into four parts was intended to mirror the organization of the universe, believed to be four parts aligned with the four cardinal directions(north, east, south, west).

Frontispiece of the Codex MendozaViceroyalty of New Spain.c 1541-1542 CE. Pigment on paper.

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Mosque of Selim IISinan (architect), Edirne, Turkey.c 1568-1575 CE. Brick and stone.

The Selimiye Mosque, an Ottoman mosque, was commissioned by Sultan Selim II, and was built by an architect named Mimar Sinan between 1569 and 1575. It was considered by Sinan to be his masterpiece and is one of the highest achievements of Islamic architecture.The mosque’s main structure consists of a succession of 18 small domes dominated by a huge central dome.

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Beneath the main dome, which is supported by eight columns placed close to the walls—an innovation at the time—is the sanctuary, a large square space. Four tall, slender, three-balconied minarets on the structure’s corners contrast with the mass of domes and half-domes. The mosque forms an architectural whole, with adjacent complementary buildings, including a school, a library, and a theological college, now housing archaeological and ethnographic museums.

Mosque of Selim IISinan (architect), Edirne, Turkey.c 1568-1575 CE. Brick and stone.

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Beneath the main dome, which is supported by eight columns placed close to the walls—an innovation at the time—is the sanctuary, a large square space. Four tall, slender, three-balconied minarets on the structure’s corners contrast with the mass of domes and half-domes. The mosque forms an architectural whole, with adjacent complementary buildings, including a school, a library, and a theological college, now housing archaeological and ethnographic museums.

Mosque of Selim IISinan (architect), Edirne, Turkey.c 1568-1575 CE. Brick and stone.

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Mannerism

Parmigianino, Madonna with the Long Neck, 1534-40.

MANNERISM

Period from High Renaissance (1520) to Baroque (1590)

Comes from the Italian maniera, or "style," in the sense of an artist's characteristic "touch" or recognizable "manner."

Elongated proportions

Intense contrast & lighting

Twisted poses

Keywords: Busy, Dark, Twisted, Shadows, Dramatic, Clouds, Assymmetrical

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Mannerism

Compare Fiorentino’s Deposition toVan der Weyden’s Depostion…

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Mannerism

Jacopo da Pontormo

Born Jacopo Carucci in Pontormo

Jacopo Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross, 1525-1528. MANNERISM

MANNERISM & OTHER 16th CENTURY ART

Mannerism

Jacopo Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross (Entombment of Christ),Oil on wood. 1525-1528. MANNERISM

This painting suggests a whirlwind of grief. They inhabit a flattened space with bright colors. The center of the composition droops down towards the limp body of Jesus off center in the left. Those lowering Christ appear to demand our help in sustaining the weight of his twisted body. No Cross is visible; the natural world itself also appears to have nearly vanished: only a lonely cloud exists as bright swathes of pink and blue envelop the pallid, limp Christ. The Virgin, larger than her counterparts, swoons sideways inviting the support of those behind her; the Swoon of the Virgin was a controversial moment at the time. The assembly looks completely interlocked, but ultimately, the most compelling and empathic figure is the crouching man in the foreground, whose expression mixes the weight of the cadaver and the weight of melancholy.