Parmigianino
Fundamental Paintings to Understand the History of Painting
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Madonna with the Long Neck (1534). Parmigianino
Oil on canvas. 216 cm x 132 cm
Uffizi Gallery. Florence, Italy
This painting is one of the most representative of Mannerism, a transition between the simplicity, naturalness, and harmony of the Renaissance and the overloaded and artificial sophistication of the Baroque.
Mannerism is characterized by the artists’ intention to openly show their virtuosity, their style (“maniera”). Some do it by painting in the manner of the “unsurpassed” masters, Michelangelo, Leonardo, or Raphael, and others seek to go further, like Parmigianino, voluntarily breaking all the conventions to create something intelligent, new, and shocking compared to the generation that preceded him.
In the painting, we can see all the affectation and artifice that Parmigianino uses to represent a Virgin full of grace and elegance. He goes so far as to paint a neck that resembles that of a swan instead of a woman’s. We notice her odd and whimsical proportions, such as her long fingers, which still appear to be delicate.
We can also see how it breaks with conventional harmony in the crowding of angels, which creates an unthinkable imbalance for the time.
He displayed a very personal, novel, and unexpected style, disregarding the beauty parameters imposed by the great masters, which is something very similar to what would happen (centuries later) with the birth of modern art and the distancing from the imitation of nature.
Recommended links:
Timeline: Moments of Parmigianino.
El Greco and the Color of Mannerism.
Lavinia Fontana and the “Maniera.”
El Greco:The Burial of the Count of Orgaz .
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