Patrick Bade
The Late Renaissance and Mannerism
Summary
The Mannerist style is one of the most contentious and disputed styles in Western art. No two artist historians seem to agree on what it really consists of and how to define it. And there are even historians who say there’s really no coherent style or movement that can be described as Mannerist. Patrick Bade offers his take on what the style is and shows us many examples of some of the movement’s most interesting work.
Patrick Bade
Patrick Bade is a historian, writer, and broadcaster. He studied at UCL and the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was a senior lecturer at Christie’s Education for many years and has worked for the Art Fund, Royal Opera House, National Gallery, and V&A. He has published on 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and historical vocal recordings. His latest book is Music Wars: 1937–1945.
No, I mean there couldn’t be, could there, ‘cause it was forbidden. There are no significant Jewish painters, really, 'til the, you’ve got to have assimilation before you can really get Jewish painters of any significance. So the first ones are not really of any real quality, and not 'til Max Liebermann, Pissaro, in the 19th century.
That’s a complicated one to answer because Vasari talked about maniera, he didn’t talk about Mannerism, but he talked about maniera, meaning style or stylish painting. So I think that, in the art historical sense, Mannerism wasn’t really coined for this movement, if you think it’s a movement, until the early 20th century.
Well, as I said, Vasari uses the term maniera. It’s a style which is very mannered. So I think, in a way, it’s quite a good name for the period and the style, which is very precious, very artificial.