Renaissance & Mannerism

Book excerpt: From the 15th to the 16th centuries, Western European culture flourished thanks in part to the astonishing achievements of such Renaissance artists as da Vinci, Donatello, Raphael, Botticelli, and Michelangelo, and Mannerist painters including El Greco, Pontormo, and Tintoretto. In Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, artists pursued ancient classical ideals of harmony and naturalism, and in architecture, forms of perfection and grandeur. Mannerists, in the early 16th century, valued exaggeration, elongated figures, unnatural lighting, and vivid (even lurid) colors, to create more tension and emotion in their work. This stunning volume follows these two key movements in art history, providing authoritative background from a top scholar, rich cultural context, and a wealth of exquisite reproductions of period paintings, sculptures, churches, and palazzos.