Smyth, Mannerism

The most abundant feeling I got from Smyth's excerpt was that Mannerism was criticize a lot. The author didn't seem too fond of it either. Very negative descriptions of the mannerist style. Mannerism is compared to Renaissance painting which I don't think is fair. They are completely different. Mannerism isn't as realistic as Renaissance work, but on purpose. Why criticize a work of subtle abstraction for not being as real as Michelangelo or Raphael. It's abstract in nature. I like Manneristic paintings because of that reason. Someone in our class wrote in their blog that art kind of peaked with Michelangelo and the Renaissance. In their style I agree, I don't think you can get any better than Leonardo Da Vinci in my opinion. But mannerism is not Renaissance or vice versa. Of course, you could take this even further and say it was an expression of how even in 1500 and 1600's people hated change. That's not really art related so I won't go any further with that.

This painting I think is great by Pontormo. Very mannerist with his body being so much smaller than his clothes, its abstract but expresses a point about this person.

Giulio Romano Palazzo del Te Hall of the Psyche

These frescoes were painted based on the mythological story of Cupid and Psyche. Venus was jealous of Psyche's beauty so she told her son Cupid to make her fall in love with an ugly mortal. He attempted this while she was sleeping but instead she woke up and startled him and he graced his own skin with the arrow intended for the spell on Psyche. He ends up falling in love with her. She ends up in a secluded castle where she only sees him at night and can't look at him directly. She sees her friends and they convince her to look at him. She looks at him one night with a lamp and the oil spills on him and burns him, he leaves. She becomes unhappy because he left and calls to the gods for help. the only god to answer is Venus and makes Psyche endures many obstacles. Since Psyche succeeds in these obstacles she is able to marry Cupid.

The painting represents all the adventures Psyche went through.


Federico Gonzaga wanted a "pleasure palace" to entertain his guests. This fit right into the theme he was going for.

I like how busy the painting is but at the same time as its own organization. I think it would have been more visually interesting if the table scene wasn't exactly in the middle. If everything was kind of offset, maybe with more depth, it would guide me through the adventures a little bit better. He was an apprentice of Raphael and Raphael's influence in his work.