This is Jacopo's Pontormo's Entombment, dating from 1528, which I saw inside the church of Santa Felicita today. The church is slightly hidden despite it being literally a stone's throw from the Ponte Vecchio (probably the most iconic image of Florence apart from Brunelleschi's dome, and very close to my apartment). It's one of the oldest churches in Florence; I'm pretty sure San Lorenzo is the only one that has it beat. I had not yet ventured inside this church, though, simply because it's somewhat tucked away and because it's not on the list of churches with "must-see Renaissance art." However, this Entombment is pretty famous, and it was wonderful to see in person! It's found inside the 15th century Barbadori chapel, which is on your immediate right when you first enter the church. The chapel was designed by Brunelleschi (Brunelleschi is to Florentine architecture as Bob Dylan is to American music-when in doubt, Brunelleschi built it or inspired it just like Bob wrote it or influenced it). When I was first exposed to Renaissance art (thank you Julie Mattox) I had a hard time distinguishing between it and Mannerism (which grew out of High Renaissance art). But now that I've seen so much of both up close, it's hard to believe I was ever confused. Mannerist paintings are characterized by odd, irrational settings, strangely bright, atypical color palettes, collapsed perspective, and theatrical lighting. (Yadda yadda yadda...yawn. I know. Sorry if I'm sounding pretentious or boring. This is really more for my memory than anything else, and I'm not in the mood to write in my journal/notebook right now because after an exam today I think I have carpal tunnel.) I'd heard this all before, but it still was difficult to make the distinction. But when I stood in front of this work today, all the defining elements of Mannerist pieces were obvious. The bodies just seem so airy and floaty (to put it in uber-technical, legitimate art historical terms). But really, they're light and seem wispy (again with the technical terms, sorry if I'm speaking above your comprehension level, LoLz) compared to Titian's fleshy forms or Michelangelo's super muscular, "robust" figures. And as for the color scheme, after spending the semester in a city flooded with Renaissance works, seeing this almost pastel-like palette just felt odd...in a good, this-is-different kind of way.
One of my favorite (and among the most well-known) Mannerist works is housed in the Uffizi-it's Parmigianino's (hahaha, I always think of cheese when I see the name. Mature, I know) Madonna with the Long Neck (1538). Check out this gloriously weird giraffe-neck action, in addition to the long and lanky baby Jesus:
There's also a special (and seriously publicized) exhibit currently going on at Palazzo Strozzi, which is right along Via de Tornabuoni, a street I walk on every day, and today I FINALLY visited. It's an exhibit about Bronzino, who is a famous Mannerist (fitting with the theme of this post, see?) and was the most important painter of the Medici court until he was replaced by Vasari (that Vasari...Lives of the Artists Vasari) in some-date-I-can't-quite-remember. Anyway, I knew very little about Bronzino beforehand so it was hard to fully appreciate lots of the exhibit's details, BUT I DEFINITELY loved seeing this famous portrait of Eleanor of Toledo. It's normally in the Uffizi, but when I saw it there a while back, it was positioned way high on the wall (y'all.) So...it was difficult to realize just how fantastic little Bronzi is at rendering texture. I was in awe when I saw this on eye level. The curvilinear black-ish design on her dress looks like velvet you could touch when you stand in front of it. It's insane how elevated and real it looks. Same for the gold in the middle; Bronzino is so good at faking the "sewn-on" look that this literally looks like a Girl Scout patch:
Okay. Sorry if you were expecting a fun, pithy little update. I just had to put this in writing so I could remember later. Normally stuff like this would go in my notebook/journal/art hist. textbook BUT I just didn't feel up to picking up a pen. Weird how typing is easier.
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