User:Ayeshashanediwan

A Time for change
Written By Ayeshashanediwan

iwan Great art ; a fusion of classical and romance impluses temperd

by perspective design and harmony - The atrophy of renaissance

styles and the advent of Mannerism (1520-1600)-The counter

Reformation and the spread of catholicism in Europe -The

influence of venetian painters, Tintoretto and Titian and the

new feeling for colour.

We learn from the history of the arts that the soul of man is in

competition with itself .for each generation of artists one of two

impluses is in ascendency :it rises up and colours creative vision.

will it be toward a formal ,classical style (the design full

of conventional realism),or will it be personal,passionate and

expressive (full of the eccentricites of its creator )?The best art

is often produced in the times of equilibrium .The high renaissance,

the years 1495 -1520, was such a time .the great painters ,leonardo

da vinci ,michelangelo and raphael balanced their genius against

the formal renaissance techniques of perspective ,desgin and

harmony which they had learned apprentices in the florentine

art workshops .only michelangelo in his later years lost his

balance and allowed personal ,expressive feelings to override the

formal design ,

Following the renaissance decline the new generation developed a

style called mannerism which flourished in the years 1520 -1600,

and had international influence .The figures in mannnerist painting

became agitated ,and were rendered in disturbingly bright colours.

The subject of painting became less important than the experimen-

tal way in which it was handled .it all seemed a chilling ,logical

conclusion to michelangelo's last paintings in which realism was

rejected in favour of distortion .perspective, balance and harmony

were deliberately flouted in favour of ostentation ,drama and a

kind of melancholic savagery .though it did produce a few master-

pieces ,mannerism was not a distinguished period of painting.

throughout the mannerist era of all of europe was under the

pressure of intense religious debates .the catholic church in

rome was reasserting its authourity over the protestant ideas of

northern europe .the church looked in horror at the liberties

taken by the renaissance artists .it ordered the nude pictures in

chruches to have clothes painted on them ,and it took a hard line

on the position and duties of the artists .it ordered the nude pictures in

churches to have clothes painted on them ,and it took a hard line

on the position and duties of the artist in society ,insisting that art

should become religious propaganda once more.

In rome ,where this counter reformation pressure was the

strongest ,there was a sharp decline in the quality of art produced

it is claimed by some that the changes in church patronge gave

rise to mannerism ,and by others that they hastened the decline of

mannerism and gave birth to baroque styles Category:Art and culture WikiProjects Category:Art history Category:Baroque Category:Mannerism