Art Encyclopedia - Mannerism

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Mannerism
Historically the word mannerism refers to a style in Italian art during the sixteenth century. Mannerism is a period of European painting, sculpture, architecture and decorative arts lasting from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520 until the arrival of the Baroque around 1600. Stylistically, it identifies a variety of individual approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Mannerism is notable for its artificial, as opposed to naturalistic, and its intellectual qualities.

Critically the word refers to the exaggerated or obtrusive cultivation of the superficial tricks of any particular style.