Northern Mannerism in the Early Sixteenth Century

Inspired by the demand for a recognizable product, or “manner,” Antwerp painters developed a repertoire of stock figural motifs, compositions, and themes.
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Venus and Cupid, Lucas Cranach the Elder  German, Oil on wood
Lucas Cranach the Elder
ca. 1525–27
The Conversion of St. Paul, Lucas van Leyden  Netherlandish, Engraving
Lucas van Leyden
1509
Temptation of St. Anthony (recto); Fantastic Landscape (verso), Jan Wellens de Cock  Netherlandish, Pen, or point of the brush, and gray ink, heightened with white gouache, on green prepared paper; verso: pen and brown ink
Jan Wellens de Cock
ca. 1520
The Lamentation, Jan de Beer  Netherlandish, Pen and black ink, over black chalk
Jan de Beer
ca. 1500–20
The Last Supper, Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) Painters  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) Painters
1515–20
The Holy Family, Jan Gossart (called Mabuse)  Netherlandish, Pen and two shades of brown ink over remains of black chalk
Jan Gossart (called Mabuse)
ca. 1510–20
The Adoration of the Magi, Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) Painter  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Netherlandish (Antwerp Mannerist) Painter
The Bearer of the Banner of the Canton Glarus, Urs Graf  Swiss, Pen and brown ink
Urs Graf
1521
The Last Judgment, Joos van Cleve  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Joos van Cleve
ca. 1525–30
The Poet Virgil in a Basket, Lucas van Leyden  Netherlandish, Engraving; first state
Lucas van Leyden
1525
The Archangel Gabriel announcing the birth of Christ, Lucas van Leyden  Netherlandish, Pen and brown ink; squared in black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Lucas van Leyden
1520s
The Crucifixion with Donors and Saints Peter and Margaret of Antioch, Cornelis Engebrechtsz  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Cornelis Engebrechtsz
ca. 1525–30
Judith with the Head of Holofernes, Lucas Cranach the Elder  German, Oil on linden
Lucas Cranach the Elder
ca. 1530
The Adoration of the Magi, Quinten Massys  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Quinten Massys
1526
Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh: An Allegory of the Dinteville Family, Master of the Dinteville Allegory  Netherlandish, French, Oil on wood
Master of the Dinteville Allegory
1537
The Calling of Saint Matthew, Jan Sanders van Hemessen  Netherlandish, Oil on wood
Jan Sanders van Hemessen
early 17th century
Study of Eleven Heads, Jacques de Gheyn II  Netherlandish, Pen and three shades of brown ink with black chalk on laid paper; framing lines in brown ink and graphite
Jacques de Gheyn II
late 16th–early 17th century

The style of painting and drawing practiced by artists in northern Europe during the early part of the sixteenth century (ca. 1500–1530) has come to be known as Mannerism. Distinct from the Mannerist period in Italy, which began slightly later and lasted until the seventeenth century, Northern Mannerism in the early sixteenth century is characterized by unique stylistic and thematic traits, a number of which derive from late Gothic art. Though many of the early sixteenth-century Mannerists were based in Antwerp, where the movement was most clearly defined, other centers in France, Germany, and the southern and northern Netherlands (i.e., present-day Belgium and Holland, respectively) were important for the transmission and divergence of the style.

Antwerp’s central place in this movement, which has led to the creation of the subterm “Antwerp Mannerism,” can be linked to its emergence as the economic capital of northern Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Bolstered by its rich trade and cultural contacts, the port city of Antwerp attracted hundreds of artists—many of them from northern France, the Rhineland, and especially Holland—who joined the local painters’ Guild of Saint Luke, established large painting and sculpture workshops, and fed an expanding market for the production and export of art. Though stylistic traits differed from artist to artist, some defining features of Antwerp Mannerist painting are dramatic gestures and figural arrangements; lavish costumes; vivid, sometimes abrasive coloristic effects; imaginative architecture that freely combines Gothic and Renaissance elements; and demonstrative technical virtuosity (). Inspired by the demand for a recognizable product, or “manner,” Antwerp painters developed a repertoire of stock figural motifs, compositions, and themes. Herri met de Bles, Jan Gossart (), Jan Wellens de Cock (), and a range of anonymous masters, were strikingly inventive and technically ambitious.

The devotional character of Northern Mannerism in the early sixteenth century is perhaps the movement’s most consistent and enduring feature. Though Mannerist paintings appeared well before the outbreak of the Reformation in 1517, their mood went hand-in-hand with the personal form of religious expression that Protestants encouraged. In the hands of Mannerist artists, traditional subjects like The Last Judgment () and The Adoration of the Magi () were retooled to dramatically emphasize the direct intercession of holy figures, while a range of subjects, such as The Calling of Matthew (), were developed to give flamboyant expression to the new devotional iconography of the period. The noticeably unnatural construction and color of Mannerist compositions echoed certain features of late medieval art in northern Europe, even as they pointed toward a new form of religious practice.

Though unified as a general phenomenon, Northern Mannerism achieved distinct characteristics in different locations. Art in Leiden and other Dutch centers shows striking similarities with Antwerp Mannerism, in evidence in the work of Cornelis Engebrechtsz () and Lucas van Leyden in particular. Links between these centers may be explained by the influence of artists who traveled between them. Art produced in early sixteenth-century courts in France and Germany demonstrates divergent characteristics that, while no less dramatic or “mannered,” vary from those of Antwerp Mannerism in their often theatrical excess and self-referential allegories (); ().

As a movement, Antwerp Mannerism was relatively short-lived, dying out by the fourth decade of the 1500s, but it was echoed in some of the trends explored by Netherlandish artists around the turn of the following century.


Contributors

Jacob Wisse
Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University

October 2002


Further Reading

Leeflang, Huigen, et al. Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617): Drawings, Prints and Paintings. Exhibition catalogue. Zwolle: Waanders, 2003.


Citation

View Citations

Wisse, Jacob. “Northern Mannerism in the Early Sixteenth Century.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nman/hd_nman.htm (October 2002)