The Venetian School of the 16th century preferred a softer, more sensual style of oil painting compared to Florentine art. Artists such as Giorgione and Titian used warm tones and were less constrained by the Catholic Church, depicting some erotic themes. Mannerism developed as a reaction against the balance of the High Renaissance, featuring exaggerated colors, proportions, and distortions of space and perspective. Notable Mannerist artists included Pontormo, Parmigianino, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Veronese, and Michelangelo.

1. The Venetian School and Mannerism 1

2. Venetian School In the sixteenth century, artists such as Giorgione and Titian preferred a gentler, more sensuous approach to oil painting than had been adopted by the Florentine School . The Venetians used warm atmospheric tones. Distant from the influence of the Papacy, Venetian artists did not shy away from controversial (erotic/pagan) themes. 2

3. 3 GIORGIONE DA CASTELFRANCO (and/or TITIAN?), Pastoral Symphony, ca. 1508–1510. Oil on canvas, 3’ 7 1/4” x 4’ 6 1/4”. Louvre, Paris.

4. 4 GIORGIONE DA CASTELFRANCO, The Tempest, ca. 1510. Oil on canvas, 2’ 8 1/4” x 2’ 4 3/4”. Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice.

5. 5 TITIAN, Meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne, from the Camerinod’Alabastro, Palazzo Ducale, Ferrara, Italy, 1522–1523. Oil on canvas, 5’ 9” x 6’ 3”. National Gallery, London.

6. 6 GIOVANNI BELLINI and TITIAN, Feast of the Gods, from the Camerinod’Alabastro, Palazzo Ducale, Ferrara, Italy, 1529. Oil on canvas, 5’ 7” x 6’ 2”. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Widener Collection).

7. 7

8. 8 TITIAN, Venus of Urbino, 1538. Oil on canvas, 3’ 11” x 5’ 5”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

9. 9

10. 10

11. 11

12. Mannerism A style that developed in the sixteenth century as a reaction to the classical rationality and balanced harmony of the high Renaissance; characterized by dramatic use of space and light; exaggerated color, elongation of figures, and distortions of perspective, scale, and proportion. 12

13. 13

14. 14

15. 15 JACOPO DA PONTORMO, Entombment of Christ, Capponi Chapel, Santa Felicità, Florence, Italy, 1525–1528. Oil on wood, 10’ 3” x 6’ 4”.

16. 16

17. 17 PARMIGIANINO, Madonna with the Long Neck, from the Baiardi Chapel, Santa Maria deiServi, Parma,Italy, 1534–1540. Oil on wood, 7’ 1” x 4’ 4”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

18. MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, Pieta, ca. 1498-1500. Marble, 5’ 8 ½” high. Saint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome. 18

19. 19

20. 20 BRONZINO, Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time, ca. 1546. Oil on wood, 5’ 1” x 4’ 8 1/4”. National Gallery, London.

21. 21 BRONZINO, Portrait of a Young Man, ca. 1530–1545. Oil on wood, 3’ 1 1/2” x 2’ 5 1/2”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (H. O. Havemeyer Collection, bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929).

22. 22 TINTORETTO, Last Supper, 1594. Oil on canvas, 12’ x 18’ 8”. San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice.

23. 23 PAOLO VERONESE, Christ in the House of Levi, from the refectory of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice, Italy, 1573. Oil on canvas, 18’ 3” x 42’. Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice.

24. 24