History of Architecture-IV
Mannerism
Semester-IV
Varish Panchal
Assistant Professor
13.03.2019
Amity School of Architecture and Planning
Mannerism
• Mannerism comes from Italian word maniera means “style” or “manner”.
• Adherence to a distinctive or affected manner, espcially in art or literature
Renaissance Period: Phases
Art historians might talk of an "Early Renaissance" period, in which they include developments in
14th-century painting and sculpture, this is usually not the case in architectural history. The bleak
economic conditions of the late 14th century did not produce buildings that are considered to be part
of the Renaissance. As a result, the word "Renaissance“ among architectural historians usually
applies to the period 1400 to ca. 1525, or later in the case of non- Italian Renaissances.
Renaissance style can be broadly divided into three phases or sub-periods:
• Renaissance (1400–1500); also known as the Quattrocento and sometimes Early Renaissance
• High Renaissance (1500–1525)
• Mannerism (1520–1600)
Renaissance Period: Phases
Quattrocento or Early Renaissance
• In the Quattrocento, concepts of architectural order were explored and rules were formulated. The
study of classical antiquity led in particular to the adoption of Classical detail and ornamentation.
• Space, as an element of architecture, was utilised differently to the way it had been in the Middle
Ages.
• Space was organised by proportional logic, its form and rhythm subject to geometry, rather than
being created by intuition as in Medieval buildings.
Renaissance Period: Phases
High Renaissance
• During the High Renaissance, concepts derived from classical antiquity were developed and used
with greater surety.
• The period observed expansion of applicability of classical architecture to contemporary
buildings.
Mannerism: Origin
• By the end of high renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis as it seemed that everything
that could be achieved was already achieved. No more difficulties, technical or otherwise,
remained to be solved.
• Everything reached to perfection.
• The young artists needed new goal, and they sought new approaches. At this point
Mannerism started to emerge.
• Thus, Mannerism originated as a reaction to the harmonious classicism and the idealized
naturalism of high renaissance art. It explored unconventional ways in order to heighten
tension, power, emotion, or elegance
Mannerism vs Renaissance: Paintings
Figures in Proportion, Emphasis on composition of elements, Pleasant Colours
Mannerism vs Renaissance:
Paintings
Graceful but strange manner, elongation of features, abnormalities of scale, exaggeration and contrast, vivid colours and high contrast
Mannerism: Architecture
• Stylistically, Mannerist architecture was marked by widely diverging tendencies from
Renaissance and Medieval styles that eventually led to the Baroque style.
• During the Mannerist period, architects experimented with using architectural forms to
emphasize solid and spatial relationships.
• Renaissance ideal of harmony gave way to free and more imaginative rhythms.
• They did so by deliberately playing with the symmetry, order, and harmony typically found in
Renaissance architecture. As a result, Mannerist architecture appears playful, almost as if the
architects are deliberately playing with expectations put forth by Renaissance architecture.
• Thus, it was a reaction against the classical perfection of High Renaissance architecture,
either responding with a rigorous application of classical rules and motifs or flaunting
Classical convention in terms of shape and scale. It was a relaxed nonconformist style, using
unnatural proportion and stylistic contradictions.
Mannerist Architecture: Characteristics
• Deliberate breaking of Classical rules.
• Exaggeration of forms.
• Alteration of proportions
• Re-interpretation of classical elements
• Dynamic interplay of contrasting elements.
• Highly Ornamental and Lavish decorations (especially in comparison to Renaissance)
• Increased aesthetic appreciation even by amateur viewer
Mannerist Architecture: Architectural elements
• Colossal Orders (Giant Orders)
• Rich and elaborate ornamentation an patterns
• Blind Windows
Renaissance vs Mannerism
• Harmony and Order vs Conflict and Tension
Mannerism: Architecture
Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, Rome, by Peruzzi
Mannerism: Architecture
Laurentian Library, Florence:
Michelangelo’s playfulness with the architecture
• Familiar architectural forms but in unusual configuration
• Columns sit at back and are set into the wall instead of
standing out like in any renaissance façade.
• Corners seem to protrude out.
• Empty Niches
Vestibule of the Laurentian Library, Florence
Laurentian Library, Florence:
Laurentian Library, Florence:
• The freestanding marble
staircase seems too large
for the vestibule.
• The dominant, curved
steps, which appear to
pour down from the
reading room door are
intentional play of
traditional elements.
• It conveys a sense of
movement.
• It has small visual
moments or individual
pieces of art in details.
Laurentian Library, Florence:
• The columns seem to be
resting on Corbels
Laurentian Library, Florence:
Palazzo del Te, Mantua:
• The Palazzo Del Te by
Giulio Romano
• Courtyard of Honour:
Like the exterior, the four
faces of the courtyard are all
different, no pair identical to
one another.
Palazzo del Te, Mantua:
• In the North Façade, the
features at first glance
appear evenly spaced,
they are actually quite
irregularly spaced.
• Also the strange way the
building seems to be
halfway between one and
two stories, so the
observer can not be quite
sure if there is a second
story or not. It is as if the
second story has been
compressed down.
• There are fake windows
all over, mirroring the
dummy doors.
• The dropped triglyphs at
the top that seem to be
falling out of the
entablature.
Palazzo del Te, Mantua:
• The passageway on the
axis of symmetry is
covered by a barrel vault
with octagonal coffering,
but the vault is carried on
a heavy entablature
supported by Tuscan
columns with heavily
rusticated shafts.
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice:
• Columns raised on high
plinths
• Narrow lintel and pilasters
appearing behind the giant
order of the central nave
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice vs Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice:
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice:
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice:
Church of San Giorgio Maggiore , Venice:
Campidoglio, Rome:
Campidoglio, Rome:
• The columns and stone
beams of the porticoes
are inscribed within a
colossal order of
pilasters that supports a
heavy cornice topped
by a balustrade.
• These elements were
already seen on some
facades, but it was
Michelangelo who
welded them into a
coherent system.
• The colossal order and
balustrade above a tall
basement emphasizes
the massive quality of
the building.
Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda) :
Andrea Palladio:
• In designing church façades, Palladio was confronted by the problem of
visually linking the aisles to the nave while maintaining and defining the
structure of the building.
• Andrea Palladio, "the most influential architect of the whole Renaissance"
transformed the architectural style of both palaces and churches by taking a
different perspective on the notion of Classicism.
• While the architects of Florence and Rome were influenced by structures like
the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, Palladio looked to classical
temples with their simple peristyle form.
• When he used the “triumphal arch” motif of a large arched opening with a
lower square-topped opening on either side, he invariably applied it on a
small scale, such as windows, rather than on a large scale.
• This Ancient Roman motif is often referred to as the Palladian Arch.
• He mentioned all his priciples in hid book - Quatro Libri
Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda) :
• The best known of
Palladio’s domestic
buildings is Villa Capra,
otherwise known as "la
Rotonda", a centrally
planned house with a
domed central hall and
four identical façades,
each with a temple-like
portico like that of the
Pantheon in Rome.
• Villa Capra is called the
Villa Rotonda, because
of its completely
symmetrical plan with a
central circular hall.
• Duration-1566 to 1571
Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda) :
• The symmetrical architecture in asymmetrical relationship to the landscape intensifies the experience of the hilltop.
• The northwest loggia is set recessed into the hill above an axial entry from the front gate.
• This axis is flanked by a service building and continues visually to a chapel at the edge of the town, thus connecting villa and town.
• The building is rotated 45 degrees to south on the hilltop, enabling all rooms to receive some sunshine.
Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda) :
• At the center of the plan, the
two story circular hall with
overlooking balconies was
intended by Palladio to be
roofed by a semi-circular
dome.
• However, after hi death, a
lower dome was built, designed
by Vincenzo Scamozzi and
modelled after the Pantheon
with a central oculus originally
open to the sky.
• The proportions of the rooms
are mathematically precise,
according to the rules Palladio
describes in the Quatro Libri.
Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda) :
• Each of the four porticos has
pediments graced by statues of
classical deities. The pediments
were each supported by six
Ionic columns.
• Each portico was flanked by a
single window.
• All principal rooms were on the
second floor
Villa Capra (Villa Rotonda) :
• Alessandro and Giovanni
Battista Maganza and Anselmo
Canera were commissioned to
paint frescoes in the principal
salons.
Renaissance vs Mannerism
Renaissance Mannerism
Idea/Narrative/Content Direct, Easy to understand, idealized, Difficult to Comprehend, Element of Strange
Functional or surprise, Expressive
Space Harmonious, Measured, Controlled Disjointed, Spasmodic
Composition Harmonious, Centralized Conflicting, Pushed to the side
Proportions Realistic Stretched or Compacted, Unnatural
Figures Posed naturally, Move easily Tensely and/or strangely positioned
Colours Bright but Balanced, Natural Contrasting, Irritating, Acidic, Unexpected
Depiction/Philosophy Order and Harmony. Conflict and Tension.
Natural Manmade
