Mannerism: Reassessment of a period style as evidenced in three art forms.

摘要

This dissertation restores the validity of an interdisciplinary use of the term "Mannerism" to the student of the Humanities interested in Italian sixteenth-century visual arts, music, and literature. The concept is not advocated as a movement (an -ism), but as a necessary critical category, a definable style, and a rich cultural period. Mannerism as a period style is most polemical, and more recent critical approaches have discredited the study of "style" in general. Still, the awareness of--and desire for--radical departure from the the High Renaissance ideals among mid-to-later Cinquecento painters, writers, and musicians testifies to the existence of Mannerism. Powerful evidence to this effect is located in specific shared attributes of many paintings, poems, and madrigals--as well as theoretical writings--of the second half of the sixteenth century. A correct understanding of these art works is tied to establishing the historical and stylistic context, which is best described by the concept of Mannerism.;Specific and contrasting definitions of Mannerism are documented in the first part of the study, which also discusses the etymology of the concept, the language of interart studies, and the fall from grace of Zeitgeist within cultural history. A survey of modern criticism of the term/category reveals multiple problems of definition and approach, but none powerful enough to warrant a call to abandon the term. The analysis of criticism offered spotlights concepts which are intended to free art works from the traditional strictures of "Renaissance" and "Baroque.".;These broad concepts are then tested for their usefulness in three chapters, and each art form addressed speaks in differing but clear ways of Mannerism. A focus on the fresco painting in Florence and Bologna in the 1580s by Bernardino Poccetti and Annibale Carracci serves to approach Mannerism through the "back door." The lesser-known Poccetti represents the fading stages of Mannerism in the visual arts, while Annibale is one of the first spokesmen for anti-Mannerism. Correspondences between the Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso and the Maniera then provide the avenue for a discussion of shared Mannerist aesthetics in painting and literature. Finally, significant similarities in the theory, language, and function of Cinquecento art and music point to the limited role, yet very real presence, of Mannerism in music.