Sistine Chapel

You might notice that the figures painted in the Sistine Chapel have quite a twisted form. Figuratively and literally. Michelangelo was in great agony when he painted this enormous ceiling. He had to bend backwards and twist his body all the time. His personal dicomfort was reflected in his figures. The funny part was that it became the artist's hallmark and ushered the way to mannerism, the next great art style. Mannerism emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace it. Mannerism has compositions that are asymmetrical or unnaturally elegant. The style is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities. It favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting.

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